Some things never change
by Insidenoise
Summary: Ron leaves and things between Hermione and Draco take a weird turn, a spell gone wrong, some suppressed emotions, A night alone, what could possibly go wrong? The pair have to come together to deal with their mistake and the more time they spend together they learn that they are not so different after all! Can you learn to love a person you were born to hate?
1. Chapter 1

CH1:

Hermione paced back and forth in the Gryffindor common room trying to process what Ron had just told her. It was late, so at first she thought that she had simply fallen asleep on the sofa and this was some sort of bizarre dream.

"Hermione, would you stop pacing? You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing" Ron stated, bringing Hermione out of her own head.

"Sorry" she said, her words laced with annoyance. "Can you just run it by me once more?" she asked, as if trying to confirm what she had been told for the umpteenth time.

"Bloody hell Hermione! Do I really have to go through it all _again_?" Ron whined

"Yes Ronald, you do. You can't just walk in here, ask Harry to leave and unload something as big as this on me and just expect me to understand. Now don't argue with me and just tell me once more" Hermione retorted.

"Fine" Ron got up from the sofa and made his way to the fire place before continuing "Charlie contacted me a few weeks ago. He needs help with the dragons in Romania as some of the students and professors have been disappearing or going missing. He doesn't know how long I'll be needed but he thinks it might be a while" Ron paused looking over at Hermione. He watched her face as her brow furrowed while she once more processed the information. "I leave tomorrow night. I've spoken with Dumbledore and the professors and they all agree that I should go help Charlie and help find those missing people." Ron turned back to the fire, watching the flames dance as he let Hermione process what he's said. _Again._

"You can't be serious Ronald. You, with dragons?" she let out a slightly amused hum "the last time you saw a dragon you almost fainted, and now you want to go to Romania, the place that was made for dragons? You'll be passed out the whole time" Hermione was quite amused, and so sure that this was some kind of joke between the boys. Then she looked up at Ron's completely serious face and anger filled her.

"You're serious?" she paused before continuing. "You've known for _weeks_ , and you're telling me now. The night before you leave" _you utter halfwit_ , she thought to herself "And what about Fred and George huh? What's wrong with them going or maybe even perfect little Percy?" Hermione's blood started to boil

Now it was Ron's turn to pace.

"Yes, I'm serious. I didn't know how to tell you, so I didn't...until now. Fred won't go anywhere without George, you know that and Percy won't leave his prefect status to look after dragons" Ron huffed, almost as if he was annoyed.

Hermione stood making her way to the door at a quick pace.

"Where are you bloody running off to?" Ron snapped

"Anywhere away from you!" she shouted, without a doubt in her mind that anyone that was around or listening in was able to hear her. "You should have told me weeks ago! But no, you're telling me right now! God, how cowardly of you. You probably told Harry before you told me, right?" she didn't wait for his reply because she knew his answer. Of course he bloody told Harry. "I am your _girlfriend_ Ronald. And you didn't tell me. You didn't even discuss it with me, you're just leaving and you don't know when you'll be back –"

Ron cut Hermione off before she woke everyone up "it's not like it was an easy thing to do Hermione, to make that decision and then have to tell you. Don't make this harder than it already is" Ron knew what he was doing. He was trying to make her feel bad and he felt shitty doing it "look, long distance relationships work out just fine, we'll be fine. I promise"

His promises meant nothing in that moment, as Ron rambled on Hermione had already made her decision about what was going to happen "No. Long distance doesn't work out; I know that first hand Ronald. How are we supposed to work anyway? You clearly didn't trust me enough to tell me that you were leaving and we obviously don't communicate enough, I mean this situation is example enough. For Merlin's sake, right now I would rather be in the company of...of" crap, Hermione couldn't think of someone who was mean and cruel and, that's it! "Malfoy than spend another second in this room with you"

Hermione once again faced the door to leave but changed her mind mid-flow and turned on her heal to face Ron. After a few moments of painful silence Hermione spoke, her words clear but filled with pain and sorrow. "And as for long distance, well there won't be a 'long distance' with us" she paused for a moment wondering what to say next. "This is our goodbye Ron" Hermione hadn't noticed that her brown eyes now shone with her tears, nor did she realise that she had been crying. She took a few moments to look at Ron, he said nothing at first, just stood there watching her cry, neither of them said anything at all.

"Hermione, come on" Ron pleaded "I'll call Charlie and see if you can come with me, or I'll see if he can think of how long I will actually be away, just please don't leave me. Don't leave us" Ron's voice started to crack and his hands started to tremble. He started to walk towards her but she stopped him.

"Don't Ron, stay where you are." Hermione pleaded "Charlie would never agree to me coming along and I have to stay here, I have to do my studies and watch after Harry, and if I'm gone who's going to get you two through to graduation eh?" Hermione chuckled but Ron didn't find it amusing.

"Hermione, please don't break up with me over this, it can work I know it can" his voice was strained. He sounded like he was going to cry at any given point.

"Oh Ron" Hermione sighed, she had already made up her mind "it's not just this, we don't communicate anymore, we hardly see each other despite the fact we share almost every class together and we both want to do different things; we're slowly drifting in different directions and today, you leaving, It's all too much" Hermione wiped away stay tears that had escaped from her welling eyes "Goodbye Ron."

Hermione turned on her heel once more and bolted through the door. It was passed curfew, but she didn't care. She would not let Ron, or anyone for that matter, see her break down. As she got the bottom of the staircase she heard Ron calling out her name in desperate pleas for her to come back to him. She ran faster as if trying to outrun herself, however, she ran a little too fast and slammed right into someone's chest as she turned the corner on the way to the girl's bathroom. Hermione landed on the stone floor with a thud, with her left wrist connecting with the floor at an awkward angle causing her to let out a small yelp.

She looked up at the still standing figure, unable to see their face due to the shadows cast over it, but from their height and the way they held themselves she could tell it was a boy. "Isn't it passed your bed time, Granger?" she knew that voice anywhere "Malfoy" she spat. She stood, and the light from the candles showed the now dried tears on Hermione's face and Draco just could help himself.

"What's the matter Granger? Has Potter hurt your precious little feelings? Or has Weaslby tried something on you?" he hummed in a mocking tone quite amused with himself. Fresh tears welled up in Hermione's eyes and just before they were able to spill over she shoved Malfoy out the way and continued to the girl's bathroom. "Don't you walk away from me Granger" she heard Malfoy shout after her but his voiced drowned out the further she walked down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 draft

Looking at herself in the mirror of the girls bathroom, Hermione felt both pathetic and broken at what had just unfolded, not only had she just broken up with her first ever boyfriend but she also had to bump into the only person in the castle who could make her feel lower than she already did.

"Malfoy, of all the people I had to run into it had to be that halfwit" she grunted in annoyance.

Hermione leaned on the sink and grimaced in pain as she leaned on her left wrist. She had forgotten about falling and hurting herself.

"You could always try putting cold water on it" a familiar whining voice startled Hermione as she turned to find moaning Myrtle floating gently toward her offering advice.

Hermione smiled gently at Myrtle before returning her gaze to her now pained wrist, it had started to swell, but she knew that it wasn't broken; it was most probably a sprain.

"You could always heal it yourself you know?" Myrtle pointed out

"Yes, I could. But I think I'll let it heal the old' fashioned way, I'll just put ice on it when I get back to the common room" Hermione stated

"What is it with you mudbloods? Just heal the blasted thing" Malfoy said coldly, startling both Hermione and Myrtle. Myrtle let out a slight whimper and dissipated into nothingness leaving Hermione and Draco alone in the Girl's room.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" her voice laced with venom.

"Well..." Draco paused for a moment, why had he followed Granger? "You never spoke back to me and then you walked away from me, and no one walks away from a Malfoy" he said pointedly

"So you thought that you would just follow me into the girl's bathroom to finish making me feel small?" Hermione spat, in no mood to argue with the likes of Malfoy.

As she tried to push pass him for the second time that night he grabbed her, Malfoy did not like to be dismissed once, let alone twice and in the same night by Granger none the less.

Hermione winced in pain and recoiled from his tight grasp on her injured hand. "What's your problem Malfoy? Was insulting my friends, belittling me and hurting me once tonight not enough for you?"

Draco hadn't meant to hurt her; he just wanted to stop her from walking away from him. Who gave her the right to think she was better than him? To dismiss him the way she does, filthy mudblood, she should have more respect for him. "It's your own fault Granger. If you hadn't walked away from me _again_ tonight, I wouldn't have grabbed you; and as for earlier it was _you_ who ran into _me_ in the hallway, remember? It's your fault for being out after curfew" Malfoy stated with a smirk on his face.

"Well if you hadn't been out after curfew I wouldn't have run into you" Hermione pointed out coldly

"I had important errands to run" Draco said matter of factly

"Yeah, if you want to call your late night booty calls with pansy "errands" then I guess they are pretty important" Hermione said as a smile started to spread across her face when Draco's eyes widened in astonishment.

Hermione took advantage of his surprise and left Draco standing alone in the middle of the girl's bathroom. "Well, would you look at that? Hermione Granger, left you, Draco Malfoy wide eyed and speechless" Draco turned to see Myrtle sitting on top of one of the girl's stalls looking all smug at what she had just witnessed.

"Shut your whining mouth , you know nothing; you better not tell a sole about what you saw otherwise I'll come back and throw more books through your ugly face" Draco threatened, he didn't like to be laughed at and Granger was going to pay for making him look like a bumbling idiot in front of Myrtle. Myrtle started to cry and jumped into one of the toilets. Looks like Draco made himself perfectly clear.


	3. Chapter 3

CH3:

Draco was absolutely livid with Granger "stupid mudblood" he mumbled to himself. He was roaming the castle looking for her "who does she think she is" he grunted. He knew she wouldn't have gone back to the common room, so where would she go? He already checked the library with no luck. He then had a thought "Lumos" Draco whispered, in case any of the teachers were also out at this time.

"Hey, you! Turn that light off will you? We're trying to sleep here" one of the portraits shouted at Draco.

Another portrait chimed up "what is it that you want son?" he turned around to see the portrait; he had no idea who it was, but was grateful that someone would answer his question.

"I'm looking for a girl, curly hair, most probably cradling her left arm—"

Draco was cut off by the portrait "Ah, yes. Miss Granger, I do believe she was heading to the astronomy tower"

"Of course, the mudblood would have to go up there and make me walk the stairs—"

He was once again cut off by the portrait "Hold your tongue boy!" he bellowed "How dare you use that language toward another pupil" he scolded Draco

Draco stood there for a moment, it was like he being told off by his father. He was taken aback, he thanked the portrait before leaving and heading toward the astronomy tower.

Draco was slightly out of breath by the time he reached the top of the tower. He looked around for Granger but couldn't see her, he was about to turn around and head back to the dormitories when he heard a small sob coming from the far side of the tower. He slowly crept over to the weeping figure. It was Granger.

"What do you want Malfoy" Hermione asked without turning around.

Draco continued to walk up behind her but said nothing. Hermione stood up and turned around when she felt his body heat, her breath caught in her throat as Draco had his wand pointed at her, he came in closer, so close that she could smell his cologne; he smelt like pinewood, she loved the smell of pinewood. She pushed that thought out of her head as quickly as it had entered.

He held his wand under her chin, lightly pressed into her throat like she had done to him a few months ago, however drawing her wand on him was justified. "What are you going to do Malfoy? Torture me?" she sighed; she knew as much as he did that he wasn't going to do that.

"I did cross my mind" he stated, his eye cold. "However, I wouldn't waste a spell on the likes of you" he lowered his wand and turned away. She wasn't worth his time, so he decided to just leave it and piss potter off instead in the morning. "Coward" Hermione muttered loud enough for Draco to hear. That hit a nerve. He turned around so fast that Hermione didn't have time to react.

He whipped round and forcefully grabbed Hermione's bad arm and squeezed it, Hermione couldn't help the scream that left her mouth; he was hurting her.

Draco could feel her wrist throbbing underneath his own hand, he knew he was hurting her but he was too angry to care at this moment. "Say it again Granger" he dared her, in a menacing tone. When he heard nothing but whimpers from her he let her go and she dropped to the floor cradling her arm. He squatted down next to her and leaned in so his lips brushed her momentarily, he then slowly moved slowly from her mouth up her cheek, until he came to rest on her ear "remember this Granger, and know that I am not afraid to hurt you. The next time you aim that word at me i will not hesitate to hex you, do you understand?" his voice was low but harsh and he made sure to brush her earlobe with his mouth before standing.

Shouting at her, he asked again "Do you understand Granger". Before she had a chance to reply Ron had appeared "understand this" he replied to Draco before his fist connected with Draco's face. Ron ran over to Hermione, his hands searching her body for any injury, however, before he could find the damage done to her wrist Hermione had stood up "Thank you Ron, but I don't need you looking out for me anymore alright" she said with a slightly agitated tone. Ron nodded once and followed Hermione out of the astronomy tower, leaving Draco where he lay.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning, Hermione, Ginny and Harry walked down to the hall for breakfast while Ron stayed in his chambers packing for Romania. They took their seats and Harry immediately turned to Fred and George and they started talking about the upcoming quidditch match. Ginny tried talking to Hermione but she just simply didn't want to talk after the events from last night, she turned around to see Malfoy walking into the hall and she suddenly didn't feel too well. She told Ginny that she had to go and headed for the door before Ginny could ask any questions.

Just as Hermione left the hall and begun walking to the stairway she hear her name being called "Hermione, wait up!" Hermione stopped and slowly turned around to face Ginny. "What's going on? You left so quickly. Are you okay?" Hermione saw no point in lying to Ginny, she always found out the truth one way or another, so Hermione told Ginny the events that had unfolded throughout the night.

"Whoa, and Ron really hit him?" Ginny asked in surprise at her brother's courage. Hermione let out a small laugh "yeah, he really did hit Malfoy" both girls giggled in the hallway when Harry approached them. "What are you two laughing about?" Harry beamed, before Hermione had a chance to answer for herself Ginny had responded "Ron punched Draco in the face last night" Harry lost his smile and look over at Hermione "what?" he asked Her. "It was nothing really" Hermione started, while putting her hand through her hair, Harry reached up and gently grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards him. When she had put her hand through her hair, her robes had slightly moved up her arm partially revealing her bruised and swollen wrist.

"What happened?" Harry demanded as he rolled up Hermione's sleeve to reveal the slight outline of a hand, Draco's hand to be exact.

Ginny gasps "Hermione, you never told me that Draco hurt you!" before I could explain anything to Harry he had let go of my arm and was marching back toward to the hall "Harry! Stop!" but before Ginny and I could catch up with him he walked through the doors and into the hall walking straight to the Slytherin table looking for Malfoy.

Harry scanned the table and found Draco at the far end sat between Crabbe and Goyle talking about God knows what "Malfoy" Harry shouted, claiming the attention of half the hall.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake" Hermione mumbled to herself; she runs to catch up with Harry just before he reaches Draco "what's this about Potter" Malfoy snarled, his eyes travelling between Harry and Hermione. Draco lost his patience when neither of them responded to him. "Well?" he snapped.

Harry gently grabbed Hermione's wrist and rolled up her sleeve to reveal the mark the Draco had left. "This." Harry said pointedly, Draco followed his gaze until his eyes fell upon the faint hand mark on her wrist. "You did this" Harry stated in a low warning voice, Draco ignored Harry's remark and slowly raised his eyes until he was looking directly at Granger.

I had never noticed how blue Draco's eyes were she thought to herself as his eyes connected with hers "I...I" Draco mumbled before he broke eye contact and walked briskly out of the hall. "Hey, i'm not through talking to you Malfoy" Harry shouted after Draco. "Stop it Harry! You're making a scene" Ginny interjected.

Hermione gave Harry the ' _really'_ look before following Draco's actions and leaving the hall. Hermione caught a glimpse of Malfoy turning the corner heading in the direction of the Slytherin common room. She let out a small sigh.

Harry and Ginny trailed behind Hermione, when they were out of earshot of the hall Hermione turned to Harry "Why did you have to make a scene?" she huffed, Harry was slightly confused; he thought that she would be happy that someone cared enough to stick up for her "I was only confronting Malfoy, he had no right to lay his hands on you" Harry exclaimed "How do you know it was Draco that left this mark? For all you know it could have been Ron, considering we were arguing last night! You should have spoken to him in private Harry, not in a room full of people and you should have waited for me to explain to you what had happened!" Hermione explain, clearly not impressed with his action.

Harry grew annoyed at Hermione's words "You're so ungrateful, you know that? No wonder Ron is leaving tonight, it's probably to get away from you!" Harry shouted at Hermione before marching up the staircase. "Harry James Potter!" Ginny scolded as she ran up the stairs after him.

Hermione stood alone in the hall for a brief moment before heading up to the astronomy tower. That was where she felt safe, where she could think and take a moment to alone, truly alone.


	5. Chapter 5

It was cold in the astronomy tower and the harsh breeze that whipped through the open plan tower wasn't helping. Draco shivered; It wasn't this cold last night when he had confronted Granger he thought to himself, or maybe it was and he just couldn't remember. He stood, leaning against the rail looking out at the hills thinking and going over what had happened last night. He hadn't meant to hurt Granger, he just wanted to scare her but then she had to go and call him a _coward_.

He had acted so much like his father last night and the thought disgusted him. He never wanted to be like Lucius. Ever. He closed his eyes and the memories of last night came flooding back, he remembered Hermione whimpering in pain as he took her already injured hand and inflicted more pain upon her, the scream that had left her lips was words enough yet he still carried on; Once she had dropped to the floor in pain, he took a moment to watch her. She wasn't the little smart mouthed girl from first year anymore, she had grown pretty and she was almost tolerable. He took her vulnerability and used it against her; he knelt down in front of her and leaned in, causing their lips to brush. He was toying with her, letting her know that she was not in control of that moment. He had threatened her, something he was not proud of.

His head snapped up when he heard movement, he turned to see Granger walking into the tower and closing the door; she obviously hadn't seen him yet.

"What do you want Granger?" Draco asked in a flat tone

Hermione hadn't noticed Draco standing there, and she now regretted shutting the door. She didn't reply to his question, she just looked at him; until now she hadn't really noticed how tall he was, he was much taller than Harry and he carried himself with much more pride—

Draco cut off her train of thought "I know I'm good looking Granger, but didn't your parents ever tell you it was rude to stare?" with that Hermione spun on her heel and made her way to the door, trying to pull the heavy door open with very little success.

Draco took three long strides and was behind Hermione, He placed his hand on the door, closing what she had opened. He watched as she closed her eyes as if she was wishing to be anywhere but in that room. Their faces were inches apart, much like they had been last night; Draco could smell her hair, it smelt of roses; he loved roses. He disregarded the thought when he reminded himself that it was Granger he was thinking about. A filthy mudblood.

"Hermione" Draco said softly, trying to get her attention; she slowly opened her eyes to find him inches away from her face, she was bombarded with the scent of pinewood once again, despite how much she loved the way he smelt she had to remember that this was Malfoy, the person she had grown to hate. She could feel his breath on her cheek and she couldn't help but blush.

Draco moved his free hand to the base of her left wrist; Hermione flinched at the contact but didn't pull away. Draco slowly rolled up her sleeve to her elbow to reveal the damage he had inflicted. He drew in a short breath and looked away for a moment; her wrist had turned an off colour purple and was still swollen, his hand mark was barely visible but it was still there and that made him feel sick. No matter how much he hated this girl, he never meant to inflict so much pain upon her. He grazed his fingers lightly over her wrist and she winced in pain. It still hurt. He looked up at her face and he recognised the expression, it was the same expression he had once held when he was a child when his father was "teaching him a lesson". He let go of her wrist, he wanted to heal her, to show her that he wasn't all bad but alas, he knew that she would never let him help her.

"Just let me leave, Draco" Hermione sighed. She sounded defeated. Draco pulled his hand away from the door and let her open it, he watch her as she walked down the stair leading away from the astronomy tower and onto the seventh floor.

Draco had changed his mind, he set off after Granger; he needed her to know that he didn't mean what had happened last night. He caught up with Hermione as she reached the seventh floor "wait up Granger!" he huffed as he drew closer to her, but she wouldn't slow down. He stepped in front of her, which only caused her to turn around and head back the way she had come. Draco sighed in annoyance; he stepped in front of her again smirking at her as he did so, and Hermione once again turned around and walked away from him. Now Draco was just getting frustrated. All he wanted to do was talk to her he thought to himself; why was she making this so difficult? He tried once more, and as expected she turned around again, but this time she lost her balance when she spun on her heal and had fallen into Malfoy who had stumbled against the wall.

Just as Draco was about to push Hermione off him they both started to fall into the room, Hermione let out a small yelp as they hit the floor. They both got up wasting no time on the floor, the door they had just fallen through had disappeared right before their eyes "What did you do?" Hermione asked accusingly. "Me?" Draco retorted "what did _you_ do?"


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was late to potions class, she had overslept and no one had woken her; as Hermione walked gingerly into the classroom almost every pupil eyeballed her as she walked to take the only spare seat in the room...next to Malfoy "great" she muttered to herself; With Ron now in Romania, Lavender Brown was taking every opportunity possible to be close to Harry. It had been nearly a week since Hermione's last meeting with Draco in the astronomy tower, where she heard her name float effortlessly off his lips. She shook her head before taking her seat next to Malfoy; she shouldn't be having these thoughts about someone as vile as Malfoy.

The lesson continued...

"And with the person sitting next to you, you're to follow the instructions exactly as written to create and test your own love potions; if done correctly, the potion will only last for a few minutes, however, if the instructions aren't followed exactly as written" Professor Slughorne paused before continuing "the effects will last substantially longer or they could have the reverse effect and cause severe hatred" the professor chuckled to himself while looking toward Neville; he as well as the rest of the class knew that it was more than likely that Neville was going to muck this one up.

"Well Granger, at least if you muck up we know which effect it'll have on us, and to be clear, it'll be the severe hatred" he snickered

"Huh, would you look at that, beyond Draco Malfoy's hatred, lies even more hatred and no heart. Who would have guessed?" Hermione chuckled, bemused by her own comment.

Draco just glared at her but she paid him no attention

Hermione was down to the last ingredient needed for the potion. She was trying to concentrate however that was virtually impossible with Seamus blowing his potion up every 10 minutes, Harry and Lavender constantly asking for help and Draco humming rather loudly and obnoxiously in her ear "Maybe if you stopped humming and gave me a hand we could get this done quicker" Hermione snapped at Malfoy "Great, now you've made me lose count you halfwit!"

Draco chuckled "you were on 3 or maybe 4, what does it matter anyway? Did you know that you count out loud and your voice is truly annoying? Are all mudblood's this annoying or is it just you Granger?"

Hermione disregarded his insult "It matters Draco because if you put one too many rose thorns into the potion or not enough, one of the two side effects will occur" she mumbled in annoyance

"Well you better get this right Granger" Draco spat

"Or what? You'll hex me?" Hermione retorted

"Watch it Granger, you and I both know what I'm capable of" Draco warned as he leaned forward on his chair and simultaneously looked at her still healing wrist and rounded his pale hand around his wand. Hermione sat in silence as she added 2 more rose thorns, hoping that Draco was right and that she had only added 3 to the potion.

"Right everyone" the professor piped up "it's time to test your potions; now, depending on how strong or weak they are and whether you followed the instructions exactly as written, some of you may feel the effects straight away others will take some time. Now with that said; drink up!"

Hermione handed Draco the potion and without a word spoken between the two, they both watched each other as they downed their potion, they waited and when nothing happened Draco rolled his eyes "Great witch? You can't even create a simple love potion. You're pathetic Granger!"

With that statement Hermione grabbed her book bag from besides her and fled from class before anyone could see her cry. Hermione ran straight to her dormitory and cried herself to sleep missing the rest of her lessons that day. Very un-Hermione like.

3 days after Draco's insults, they had potions class again. Hermione didn't feel too well, she had thought about seeing the medi-witch but didn't want to waste her time, she had probably just caught a cold when she had walked in the rain last week, that coupled with virtually no sleep was probably the reason she felt so ill.

Hermione Joined Ginny, Harry and the twins for breakfast in the hall, before reaching the table she spared a glance at the Slytherin table catching Draco's eye. An indescribable feeling stirred inside her when she caught his cold grey eyes looking back at her; she turned away and took her seat, and hoped on Merlin's beard that this wasn't the potion at work.

"Are you alright Hermione?" George pitched up as she took her seat

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Hermione asked

"You just look a little off; maybe you should see the medi-witch? Harry and I will take you, won't we Harry" Fred said

"Uh, yeah. We'll take you" Harry offered

Hermione chuckled, before coughing "I'm fine, honestly. No point wasting with medi-witches time; it's nothing more than a cold" Hermione offered a small smile to reassure them that she was fine, but the truth was she felt dreadful.

"I've got a free period first, what about you?" she directed the question towards Ginny, however the twins and Harry answered instead; "Well, we've got a free period but we're going to practice for the quidditch match next week, you're more than welcome to watch us practice"

Ginny giggled "Well, I'll come and watch you practice" Ginny replied. "Why would we want our sister watching us practice?" the twins scoffed in unison. "Who said I was going to watch you" Ginny retorted with a wide grin on her face; with that she left the table and made her way out of the hall.

"Great" Fred mumbled. "She has a thing for someone on the team, who do you think it is Harry?" they both looked at him in curiosity.

Harry gulped "Don't know boys, could be anyone really" Harry turned to Hermione, changing the subject as quickly as possible. Fred and George had no idea what was going on between Harry and their little sister, however, Hermione just caught on. "So are you coming to watch our practice?" Harry asked.

"Uh, no. I still have that essay to finish for history of magic, so I'll be in the library" Hermione replied with a small sniffle.

"Okay, we'll see you in potions class then" Harry stood to leave "Are you sure you're alright? You've not touched breakfast and you never ate yesterday" Harry asked. "I'm fine Harry. Now go, or you'll be late for practice" Harry frowned at Hermione before joining the others and leaving the hall. Hermione sat on her own for a few moments before following her friend's actions and leaving the hall.

Draco had heard their conversation, and for reasons unbeknownst to him, he was worried about Granger; he left right after Hermione and noticed that she wasn't heading for the library like she had told Potter. She was heading up with staircase to the owlery. Draco paused before following her; when he reached the top of the staircase he noticed her book bag leaned up against the wall. He walked in and found Granger sitting against the wall with her head arched up looking at the ceiling, she looked like she was ready to pass out; but why did he care?

"Anything interesting up there Granger?" Draco asked

Hermione was startled by his presence; she hadn't heard him walk in. Her head snapped in his direction "what do you want Malfoy" she sighed, she was too tired to argue with him right now

Hermione just wanted to be alone. When Draco didn't answer her she got up a little bit too quick and became extremely light headed.

Draco had noticed her momentary pause before her leg buckled, with one quick stride he slipped his arm around her waist to prevent her from falling. She didn't push him away and he didn't let her go, instead they stayed there; he was still holding her up as he looked down at her, their bodies brushed against one another with their lips only inches apart, the air between them palpable. Draco reached up with his free hand and pushed away a few stands of stray hair that had fallen over her face when he had caught her. This action caused Hermione to come to her senses; she placed a gentle hand on Draco's chest and pushed herself out of his grasp. "Thanks" she breathed out, before walking around him to grab her book bag.

"You should go see the Medi-witch, you're not well" Draco stated staring down the staircase

"I'm fine" she replied to his statement

"You can barely hold yourself up. Even potter is worried" Draco sneered.

"I just got up too quickly, I'm fine and what do you think you're doing eavesdropping on other people's conversations? Didn't your parents ever teach you that it was rude to do that?" Hermione snapped back.

"Who are you trying to convince? Yourself or me? You've said that you're fine twice in the space of mere minutes." Draco said in annoyance "And my parents taught me many things, doesn't mean I listened or learned".

"well if people stopped asking me if I was okay then maybe I wouldn't have to say 'I'm fine' all the time" Hermione shouted in frustration; she instantly regretted shouting as her hand flew to her temple as a shooting pain bounced through her head.

Before Draco could say anything more, Hermione took off down the staircase leaving Draco in the owlery. Hermione found herself back at the tree that she had sat under in the rain; she only had 15 minutes left until potions class started, so she sat under the tree and watched people walk by. Hermione started to get cold so she wrapped her robes around her and hugged them tightly, her eyelids became heavy and she welcomed the darkness that followed.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco had decided not to go to quidditch practice after potions class had bored him to death; instead he went back to the owlery for reasons unbeknownst to himself. He sat next to the open window watching the quidditch practice that he was missing, he watched as Crabbe tried and failed to avoid a fast approaching Bludger, Draco chucked as he watch Crabbe fall off his broom; as he scanned the field he notice Granger sitting up against a tree, after watching her for a brief moment he decided to go and torment the goody two shoes for ditching class, after all, it was better than watching Crabbe get repeatedly knocked off him broom.

As he approached her he noticed that her eyes were shut and that her breathing was slow but steady. He watched as her chest rose and fell, he couldn't help but think how peaceful and innocent she looked while she slept.

Draco shook his head. This is Granger. He thought to himself a no good filthy... His thoughts drifted away as he noticed her shiver. It was 23'c and she's shivering.

"Wake up Granger" he said when he finally reached her. He got no response. He knelt down and gently shook her, "Granger" he muttered once more, still she didn't respond. Deep down he started to worry, but why should he care? She wouldn't help herself or listen to anyone when they told her to see Madame pompfrey.

He leaned in closer and saw small beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead; he ever so gently placed his hand on her flushed cheeks before doing the same to her forehead. She was warm but yet the manner in which she slept said the complete opposite. Her sweat was cold and she had her robes wrapped around her; Draco reached around her trying to loosen her robes, in hopes that it would cool her down. When doing this Hermione stirred and her brown eyes stared straight into Malfoy's "W-what are you doing?" Hermione croaked with a panicked expression on her face.

"I'm trying to help" Malfoy declared, however Hermione fought him at his every effort "I'm fine" Hermione stated. Draco sniggered "Oh? You're fine are you Granger?" Draco asked curious to her answer.

"Yes. Perfectly." Hermione mumbled still fighting him while he tried to loosen her robes "Really?" Draco questioned sarcastically "Then what is your excuse for missing potions class eh?" He questioned.

Hermione stopped fighting him. Had she really missed a class? She really didn't feel well she thought to herself

Draco looked up at her once he had finally managed to loosen her robes, her eyes were heavy and her face was even more flushed than before. Despite opening her robes Hermione's temperature still rose. Draco couldn't leave her out here no matter how much he wanted to. He scooped her up in his arms; at first Hermione resisted but she quickly gave up, too tired to fight him. On the way to the hospital wing Hermione had fallen asleep against his chest, he peered down at her taking in her appearance, and he knew it was wrong of him to think of Granger this way but he couldn't help it when she was lying defenceless in his arms.

Draco dropped Hermione off at the hospital wing informing Madame Pompfrey of her symptoms and where he found her; before he left he took one last glance at her before disappearing into the halls. He knew she was safe and would be looked after; he also knew that she would probably forget or dismiss the thought that it was he who had found her and helped her, but he was ok with that.


	8. Chapter 8

A little over a week had passed since Draco had found Hermione under the tree; He had seen her around and in classes but she paid him no attention. He had overheard that Hermione had a bad fever and she had somehow caught the flu but Madame Pompfrey fixed her right up. She was back to her usual smart ass self.

Draco had returned late from quidditch practice to find Crabbe and Pansy making out on the sofa in the common room. Pansy was frantically kissing him as if it was the last time she was seeing him, he was just glad that she was all over someone else for a change. He laughed to himself and made his way back to his room, as he did Millicent skittered past him with Seamus in tow.

"What's a _Gryffindor_ doing in our common room Bulstrode" Draco called out to Millicent. She stopped and turned around in haste "Oh shove off Malfoy!" she barked "we're only having fun" she stated.

 _Only having fun?_ Draco thought to himself...

He turned around and observed his fellow house mates, all acting rather peculiar and looking at each other like lost puppies; they looked like loved up 13 year olds. That's when it dawned on him. The potions were working.

He had a thought.

He turned back to Millicent and Seamus before they could get away. "You" Draco said in disgust "What's the password to the Gryffindor common room?" he asked.

"You think I'd give the likes of _you_ the password to _our_ common room?" Seamus spat

"Oh, come one" Millicent whined "The quicker you give up the password, the quicker we can leave and be _alone"_ Millicent hummed in a low drawled voice

With the promise of sex Seamus was more than happy to give Draco the password to the Gryffindor common room. Once Draco got what he wanted he retreated to his room to change into something more comfortable before heading to the Gryffindor common room.

Draco whispered the password to the portrait "Abstinence" the door slowly and silently opened itself up to him. As he made his way inside he noticed how quiet it was compared to his common room; he came to the conclusion that everyone was probably out having sex with their potions partner.

"Let's see how Granger's feeling tonight" Draco whispered to himself with a smirk plastered on his face. He had every intention of winding her up, knowing full well that the potions from the following week were now taking action; He wanted to get her all hot and bothered just to see her face when he left her high and dry and wanting more...Only Draco thought that he was impervious to its influence.

Hermione was lying on her own in bed trying to finish an essay for potions class. The other girls from the dorm had decided to spend their night elsewhere otherwise indisposed. Hermione sighed to herself and wondered if her friends were still under the influence of their love potions or whether they were just stupid, she then laughed to herself, thanking Merlin that she and Draco's potion hadn't worked.

She had decided to wear her ripped gray jeans and plain white low cut shirt; she felt more herself in her lounge clothes than when she did wearing her school robes.

Hermione huffed already fed up with studying for potions. It was so tedious. Just as Hermione was about to give up and get ready for bed she heard a small knock coming from her partially open door.

As she approached the door she saw a slither of white blonde hair and immediately knew who it was, she swung the door open and stared at him for a brief moment. "What do you want?" she asked, slightly annoyed at his presence.

Draco leaned against the door frame "Was wondering where everybody had scurried off too" he said in an amusing manner.

"If you hadn't noticed, the girls are all out spreading their legs just waiting for any man to take them" Hermione said, disgusted by the thought. She turned her back on Draco and made her way across her room; Draco followed closing the door behind them.

"Hmmm, everyone except _you"_ he hummed from behind her; she whipped around ready to meet his comment but lost her balance. Before she could fall Draco had wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up, their bodies once again brushing against each other much like they had the other week in the owlery, however, this time Hermione didn't pull away when Draco reached his hand up to her face.

He traced the line of her jaw softly with his thumb as he took in her scent. Her breath hitched at his gentle contact. His breath tickled her cheek and she could smell his toothpaste. Spearmint. She loved spearmint. Hermione tilted her head slightly to meet his gaze; to her surprise his eyes were not filled with hate or distain but filled with curiosity. After what felt like an eternity, Hermione tore her gaze away from his and Draco reluctantly removed his hand from her waist as the tension between them built.

"Thanks" Hermione mumbled as she turned away from him and walked to the window, her breathing heavy; she was trying to focus her thoughts, to think of anything other than the way Draco's body felt against hers or the way his scent excited her more than she'd ever care to admit. Her thought process was interrupted as she heard Draco drawing closer to her.

"Granger" he whispered as he placed a firm yet gentle hand on her shoulder; she turned to face him. She knew these feelings were the work of the potion yet she couldn't help but wonder if any of these feelings were that of her own.

Before she could come to any coherent decision on what she was feeling she had thrown her arms around Draco's neck and was mere inches away from his face; his hand instinctively wrapped around her waist and drew her in closer. Draco lightly pressed his lips against Hermione's, she tasted like coffee. She returned his gesture by kissing him deeply. Hungrily.

When they broke apart her face was flushed, eyes shining; Draco smirked before returning his attention to her now swollen lips. They kissed lightly at first but after a few moments their kisses became desperate, his tongue in her mouth as her hips tilted against his. He could feel her breasts rise and fall against his chest which only excited him further.

Draco pulled away looking at her intensely "Are you sure?" he questioned in all seriousness. "Yes" she replied breathless; she started to kiss him again, her tongue fluttering against his. He buried his hands in her hair slowly leading them towards her bed without breaking their urgent kisses; he pulled her in closer thinking that he'd never be able to get close enough to her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

It had been over a week since Draco had taken Hermione's innocence and she refused to talk about it to anyone including Ginny. Going through it once was embarrassing enough; she didn't want to relive it by telling people what happened. Since the day Draco left that letter Hermione had not been herself, she had built up a wall and was keeping everybody at arm's length. Draco had already taken her dignity; she didn't need anyone else hurting her. Harry was growing increasingly concerned about his friend's demeanour; she had barely spoken to anyone all week and was barely touching her food.

Harry turned to Ginny who was finishing up her homework on the common room table "Gin? Do you know what's wrong with Mione? She seems a bit out of sorts" He asked innocently "Why do you think that I would know?" Ginny asked without looking up at him "Well, because you two are always together and tell each other everything" Ginny looked up at him as he finished his sentence "I never said that I didn't know what was wrong, but if she hasn't told you then it's none of your business" Ginny bit back before collecting her homework and making her way towards the stairs that lead to the dormitories "And for all you know Harry, she could just be on her period, girls do get them you know" she huffed out as she stormed up the stairs. Harry frowned and mumbled to himself "Yeah, I know that all too well".

Hermione had decided to skip lunch again and told Ginny that she would meet her for class once lunch was over. After Harry and Ginny had left the common room Hermione headed to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Once in her room, Hermione slid down the wall and crumpled to the floor sobbing. She had done this every day since Draco left her that note, only crying when she knew she was alone. Once the sobbing subsided she got up and walked over to her bed and started pulling at the sheets in rage "Arrogant, pathetic, stupid FERRET!" she screamed into the empty room as she tore her room apart trying to erase what happened between them in that room. She hated him, but she knew that this was her fault, she decided to have sex with Malfoy, she wasn't forced into it and she felt like a fool for thinking he cared. Before long she was heading to her next lesson, defence against the dark arts and she knew that Malfoy would be there and she would finally have to face him after avoiding him so well all week.

"Hey" Ginny smiled at Hermione as they walked into class, Hermione offered her a slight nod. Today was a practical lesson which meant that they would be learning something new or perfecting something old, either way Hermione looked forward to it. "So, in today's lesson you will be paired by my choosing, after which you will perfect on what you already know, is that clear?" professor Lockhart announced "Potter, you will be with Miss. Weasly. Crabbe, you will be with Miss. Bulstrode" Lockhart continued to throw names together before finally calling the last two names out "And you Miss. Granger, will be paired with Mr. Malfoy" Hermione turned to Ginny who had a sad expression on her face. "Just perfect" Hermione mumbled to herself before turning around to see Malfoy with a smug look on his face accompanied by his signature and insufferable smirk. "What are you bloody smirking at?" Hermione asked her words laced with anguished "The irony of being paired with the likes of you" Draco said simply in a low amused tone.

Hermione saw being paired with Draco as an opportunity to let at least some of her anger out "You may begin" Lockhart called out from the front of the class. Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk. They circled each other both waiting for the other to make the first move "I don't' want to hurt you Granger" Draco said with a chuckle "A little too late for that don't you think?" Hermione bit back, Draco gave her a confused look before she made the first move "Expelliarmus" Hermione said with a quick flick of her wrist, forcing Draco to release his wand, and he stood for a moment wondering what to do next. Hermione motioned for Draco to pick up his wand, so he did; "what do you mean by "too late for that?" He questioned aiming his wand at her but taking no action "The note" She hissed out through clenched teeth before disarming him again "Would you stop doing that!" he said, clearly aggravated as he once again picked up his wand "and that note was only a threat, did you really think that I would tell dearest old mummy of our extra-curricular activities?" He questioned, thinking he was being smart.

Hermione disarmed him again but this time he had no time to grab his wand before Hermione uttered her next words "Imperio" Draco was stuck where he stood, Hermione had complete control over him. "Just a threat?" She questioned quietly, her tone harsh; she forced him to come closer to her so she could whisper her next words into his ear, she leaned in and spoke, her breath tickling his earlobe "I'm not a whore" her words were flat with no emotion "and I think that it's time that someone knocks you off your pedestal and strips you of your dignity and takes away something that you hold dear" She repeated his own words to him. He gulped and attempted to reply to her statement but before he could do so she silenced him "Silencio" Hermione was sick of hearing his voice.

Hermione took a step back before smirking at him. "Kneel" she commanded which caught the attention of Pansy "what are you doing Draco, get up!" He tried to answer but it was no good. Lockhart quickly caught on that Hermione had just used one of the unforgivable curses on Draco "Miss, granger release him from that position right now!" he commanded "As you wish" she replied before making him stand, but she wasn't done quite yet.

Hermione leaned into Draco and whispered in his ear "Walk over to Crabbe, grab his face in both of your hands and kiss him like you kissed me" Draco gave her a murderous look. Hermione watched as he slowly turned on his heel and made his way over to Crabbe, grabbing his face with both hands "W-what are you doing?" Crabbe stuttered just before Draco planted his lips on Crabbe's, disturbingly, Crabbe seemed to enjoy what was happening. The entire class erupted in laughter, once Hermione was satisfied she released him from the curse. The class was dismissed, however Hermione was asked to stay behind.

Hermione explained why she had performed the curse on Draco and Lockhart felt for her. He let Hermione off with a warning, not wanting to get in trouble himself with Dumbledore. When she finally left the class room Draco was waiting for her, leaning against the wall "Think your funny do you Granger?" He asked, his word cold and Harsh "I'll get you back for that" He promised "No you won't Malfoy, we're even now" she hummed walking past him, he grabbed her, pulling her in close "We're not even close to being even" he growled through gritted teeth "Yes we are" Hermione bit back "You took away my dignity and left me feeling ashamed, what I did to you was fair, now you know what it feels like to be totally humiliated and to have something taken away from you" she yanked her arm from his grasp "How does it feel Malfoy?" she asked before walking away from him.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

3 weeks after Hermione humiliated Draco in front of the entire class, he still hadn't made any move to get back at her. Maybe their brief conversation in the hallway after class had made him understand how he had made Hermione feel. As Hermione got ready for her lesson she started to feel queasy and light headed "Hey Mione!" Ginny beamed as she entered her room "You ready t—"Ginny didn't have a chance to finish her sentence as Hermione ran past her into the bathroom, violently throwing up. "You alright?" Ginny asked, Hermione just put her thumb up in the air as she continued to be sick; Ginny went downstairs to grab Hermione a glass of water and to tell Harry that they wouldn't be in class today as Hermione was ill.

When Ginny returned, Hermione was washing her mouth out with mouthwash; Ginny handed her the water "Thanks" Hermione rasped out, Ginny helped Hermione over to her bed and told her to get under the covers "You're not going anywhere today, I've already got Harry to tell our professors that we won't be around today" Ginny said, Hermione chuckled at her friend, she always became the 'mum' of the group when someone became ill and there was no arguing with her.

For the rest of the morning Hermione was in and out of sleep, with Ginny checking on her every now and then and bringing her light foods, however, Hermione couldn't keep anything down. Hermione insisted that Ginny go for lunch when Harry came back for her, reluctantly she went; Hermione got bored while her friends were at lunch and she had started to feel better and decided on getting some air, before leaving the dormitory Hermione brushed her teeth and combed her hair, so she at least looked semi-decent.

She made her way to the astronomy tower for some fresh air thinking it would do her some good; she really was starting to feel better. The astronomy tower was cold and the wind tickled her face, Hermione leaned on the guard rail and looked out at the mountains that guarded the castle; she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as the wind whipped around the tower, her senses were bombarded by the smell of pinewood and that's when it dawned on her that she wasn't alone. She only knew of one person who smelled like that "Malfoy" she whispered as he leaned on the rail next to her "Magnificent isn't it?" He asked but Hermione didn't indulge him with a reply. They stood next to each other looking out at the scenery for a little while longer before Hermione took one last deep breath, and decided that she should probably get back before Ginny realises that she's gone and comes looking for her.

As Hermione moved around Draco he grabbed her and gently placed her against the wall "you really need to stop grabbing me" Hermione huffed "I know" He replied simply, but still he didn't let her go "I shouldn't have left that note" he admitted staring at the floor "I just needed you to feel threatened so you would tell anyone that we slept together" he said honestly. Hermione thought for a moment "well it worked, so don't you worry your pretty blonde head about it Malfoy" she spat, shoving him away from her and making her way to the door; before leaving she turned back to him "And I would never tell anyone about sleeping with you! Unlike you Malfoy, I wouldn't get praised for sleeping with the enemy, because that's what you are right? The enemy? I wish I could take back what we did, but what's done is done so you can go back to screwing Pansy without having to worry that I'm going to tell someone that you fucked the filthy mudblood" Hermione was still angry with him "You're nothing but a coward" she left after that final statement and before Draco could say anything further. She knew that he'd get her back for calling him a coward once again. _Stupid Granger,_ she scolded herself.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

"Hermione hurry up, we're going to be late!"Ginny whined from the room across the hall as the two girls got ready for the end of term ball. Hermione huffed as she looked at herself in the mirror "What's taking so long?" Ginny questioned as she strolled into Hermione's room wearing a long silk blue dress that clung to her slim body; "Nothing fits me Gin!" Hermione slumped down on her bed and placed her head in her hands trying not to cry. "Oh, come on Mione, don't cry. You can borrow my white dress; you know the one that I wore to the Christmas ball?" Hermione looked up and smiled sheepishly at Ginny "Thanks Gin, but I just think I'll stay home" she sighed out in defeat "Please just try the dress on?" Ginny pleaded so Hermione agreed.

"Whoa Hermione!" Ginny gushed "That dress looks better on you than it ever did on me", Hermione looked herself over in the mirror "I don't know Gin, I think it hugs me a bit too much" she said with doubt seeded in her mind "Are you kidding? It shows off your curves and your boobs" Ginny giggled as did Hermione "Your boobs have got bigger though Mione, I think you might want to lay off your cinnamon cereal" Ginny joked. Hermione had been eating a lot more recently and not feeling too great, she shrugged it off and put it down to stress, these past 6 weeks hadn't been the easiest, she was looking over her shoulder wondering if Malfoy was going to get her back for their 'discussion' in the tower and the school work was ridiculous. Everyone eats when they're stressed right?

"Come one lets go" Ginny said while tugging on Hermione's arm, as they both half run down the stairs of the Weasly house, as they almost reach the bottom of the stairs Hermione stops "What's the matter? Did you forget something?" Ginny asked just before Hermione shot back up the stair and into the bathroom.

Ginny stood outside the bathroom and waited for Hermione to come out "You okay in there?" she asked while giving a little tap on the door "Yeah" Hermione replied coming out of the bathroom "I think I might have eaten something bad earlier" she looked at Ginny apologetically "Sorry I've made you late" Hermione said, Ginny just laughed at her friend "we're not late, everyone else is just early. If you're up for it we should leave now or we really are going to miss the ball" Hermione and Ginny dissaparented themselves to the ball.

"I always did hate that mode of transport" Ginny whined "Yeah me too" Hermione replied "At least we made it" the girls giggle and laugh between themselves before being interrupted "Where in Merlin's sake have you been?" Harry asked "I had to dance with Millicent" Harry whined

"Oh, poor you" Ginny hummed and Harry chuckled to himself "why were you guys so late?" Harry asked curiously "Hermione had trouble finding something to wear and then she got sick and it was totally gross" Ginny explained to Harry who laughed at Ginny's description of their evening. "You alright Mione? You've been sick quite a bit these past few weeks?" Harry questioned worriedly "I'm fine Harry, just stressed with school work" Hermione said reassuring Harry that she was okay.

Ginny, Harry and Hermione chatted for most of the evening before Harry asked Ginny to dance, leaving Hermione on her own so she decided to go grab some food instead of sitting by herself until her friends returned.

Hermione screwed up her nose to the choices available to them; the buffet table had the usual party foods but Hermione was put off by it all which was quite unusual "The food not good enough for you Granger?" a low insufferable voice questioned from behind her "go away Malfoy" Hermione mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

"What's the matter Granger? Still pissed that I took your innocence? Or are you mad that I made you think that I truly felt something for you?" Draco hummed from behind her being careful not to draw too much attention to the pair; Hermione snapped her head round and looked Draco straight in the eye her own filled with anger and hurt "You think you _took_ my innocence? You took nothing. I _gave_ myself to you and as for your feelings toward me, myself along with everyone else in this damn room knows that you aren't capable of loving anything other than yourself" Hermione retorted through gritted teeth, loud enough to turn a few heads. Draco's cheeks had a tint of red in them when Hermione was finished speaking, she had embarrassed him and he wasn't letting her get away with that.

Hermione walked away from Draco before an argument erupted between the two. She knew that he wouldn't be happy that she had just caused a scene and he'd be seeking some sort of revenge, her only question was when.

"Granger!" Draco shouted when she reached the middle of the hall, everyone's eyes on the two of them "You're just mad that I satisfied you in a way that Weasly was never able to" Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. This was the answer to her question. Draco smirked before continuing while slowly waltzing towards her "You're just mad that I fulfilled your every need, touched you in places that hadn't been explored yet" Hermione slowly turned toward Draco, while reaching for her wand and her eyes filling up with unshed tears. The second he was done talking she was going to curse his ass back to first year "You're just mad that I made you beg for more, you're mad that I made you moan in pleasure and scream out my name in ecstasy! You're just pissed that I gave you the best night of your life and then left you with nothing but a note. You're pissed that I used you" He chuckled "Did you really think that I could ever like a mudblood like you? Let alone love one" He laughed to himself as a tear slipped from Hermione's eyes; she slowly drew her wand on him and his laugh faded away along with his signature smirk.

Draco huffed to himself when everyone else in the hall was whispering about what happened and trying to guess what Hermione was going to do next "What will you do Granger? Hex me?" He joked half heartedly "Now that's not a bad idea" Hermione spat back her words laced with venom, her expression cold; before Hermione could hex him Harry stood in front of her "He's not worth it Mione, put your wand down" Harry said in a gentle tone giving her a soft look, Hermione looked up at her friend and a few more tears escaped her eyes, she nodded and put her wand away "Would you look at that, Potter saving the day! How gentlemanly of you" Draco sneered while drawing his wand but before he could cast any spell Harry disarmed him "Expelliarmus" the hall erupted in gasps and whispers "I think you've caused enough damage don't you?" Harry said before wrapping his arm around his friend who leaned in and silently cried into his chest as they left the hall.


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

The following day Hermione wasn't seen, she didn't turn up for breakfast or any of her lessons. Ginny was worried as Hermione would never miss a lesson, not even to avoid Malfoy. During lunch Ginny went back to the dormitories and found Hermione locked in the bathroom. Again. "Hermione?" Ginny asked softy as she knocked the door and waited for a response "Yeah Gin?" Hermione replied "You okay in there?" Ginny asked worriedly "Yeah, I'm okay. Probably ate something bad last night just feeling a bit sick. Could you grab my assignments for me please?" Ginny thought about it for a moment. Hermione being sick yesterday and blaming it on bad food even though they ate the same thing at lunch and the same today even though she knew Hermione didn't eat last night after what happened at the ball between her and Draco, and Harry's comment about Hermione being ill off and on for weeks, her slight weight gain and weird eating habits and sleeping patterns. Something was up "Alohomora" Ginny whispered and the bathroom door opened itself up to reveal a very ill Hermione "Ginny please go away" Hermione begged her friend "Not until you tell me what's going on" Ginny demanded.

"I'm just sick Gin, I don't know what's wrong" Hermione cried "I've tried potions and spells and nothing is working! I'm still sick and I just want it to stop" Ginny hugged her friend as she cried into her. "Hermione? I think I might have an idea as to why you're ill, but you have to get dressed first, we're taking a trip".

Hermione got dressed and the two girl took a trip to the muggle world "what are we doing Gin? If we get caught we could be in big trouble" Hermione whined as the two drove pass buildings "Don't worry no one can se e us, magic car remember?" Hermione sighed and leaned against the window slowly falling asleep. When Hermione woke up, the car was parked down a side street and Ginny was gone. Great. Hermione waited for her friend to return; Hermione almost jumped out of her skin when the car door swung open and Ginny hopped in "Where did you go?" Hermione all but shouted "to get these" Ginny replied holding up two pregnancy sticks "are those?" Hermione couldn't finish her sentence "yep, pregnancy tests and you're gonna take them" Ginny told her friend. "I'm not pregnant Gin" Hermione laughed "We'll see" Ginny responded before starting the car and heading back to Hogwarts.

Back at the dormitories Hermione had peed on the stick to amuse Ginny and they were both waiting anxiously for the results "Has it been 2 minutes yet?" Hermione asked impatiently "nope, not yet" Ginny replied. After what felt like the longest two minutes the world has ever known Hermione picked up the stick and turned to her friend "So?" Ginny asked with a beaming smile on her face "It's positive" Hermione mumbled before collapsing onto her bed "I'm going to be an aunt!" Ginny shouted. She is way too pleased about this "Hate to break it to you Gin, but this isn't Ron's child" Hermione said "well duh, I know that, but I'll still be aunty Ginny" both girls laughed at her comment before Ginny started to ramble about baby names and rooms and what the baby will look like when it's finally here, while Hermione just lay on her bed, her hands lightly tracing her stomach thinking about how she was going to tell Draco, it's not like she can hide it for much longer, people had already started noticing her weight gain; in all honesty, she was scared shitless.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

A little over 3 weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Hermione still hadn't told anyone other than Ginny and she was trying to find a way to hide her pregnancy for as long as possible "Ginny get up!" Hermione shouted as she jumped on Ginny's bed "What do you want, it's like 6:30 in the morning, what's wrong with you?" Ginny whined out still tucked up in bed "I think I've figured it out" Hermione said gleefully "A concealment top" Hermione bounced on Ginny's bed and tried pulling the sheets off Ginny but it was no use, that girl has a death grip "A...what?" Ginny asked, extremely confused. "Concealment top, it's a charmed top. When I put the top on it doesn't show that I'm pregnant, it just shows my normal figure. Cool right?" Hermione asked "No, not cool. We don't know how far along you are yet because you keep putting the doctor's appointment off and what happens when you have the baby? What's everyone going to think? The thin girl just gave birth...it won't add up Mione" Ginny stated sitting up and pulling the covers up to her chin "I won't wear it to full term Gin, just until I figure out how to tell Ron, Harry and Draco" Hermione thought for a moment "and I have a doctor's appointment in half an hour so get your ass out of bed and get dressed" Ginny moaned and replanted her face in her pillows before getting up and getting ready to leave.

Hermione and Ginny took the car to the muggle world for her doctor's appointment. Hermione opted for a sonogram rather than going to Madam Pompfrey for a check up, she didn't want anyone finding out quite yet. Ginny and Hermione arrived early to her appointment and was seen sooner than her appointment time "Miss. Granger to room 4 please" Her name was announced over the speaker "You coming Ginny?" Hermione asked as she got up "Yeah, if you want me to" Ginny said sheepishly "Of course I do" Hermione reassured her.

Hermione got nervous when the attending nurse squirted the gel onto Hermione's stomach, she reached out and grabbed Ginny's hand "It's okay" Ginny said giving her hand a little squeeze. Hermione turned her head to the monitor which revealed her baby "It looks like a jellybean" Hermione chuckled "That's right" the nurse said "Your baby is roughly the size of peach right now" Hermione turned to Ginny who was staring at the monitor in amazement; Hermione turned back when she heard an upbeat thumping "you hear that?" the nurse asked, Hermione just nodded "That's your baby's heartbeat" Hermione's eye's started to well up "It's so beautiful" Ginny pitched up from her side "You're measuring at about 13 weeks. Congratulations" the nurse informed Hermione how far along she was and she was mortified that she was so far along and didn't notice.

"would you like a picture to take home with you?" the nurse asked with an enormous smile plastered on her face "Yes" Hermione whispered still amazed that she just saw and heard her baby. "Would we also be able to get the heartbeat on a CD or something?" Ginny asked out of curiosity "Yes, but you will have to pay for that" the nurse replied "That's fine, I'll pay" Hermione said cheerfully "Alrightly them, I'll get that for you now okay" the nurse said with her relenting smile before leaving the room. Hermione turned to Ginny when she finished wiping the gel off her stomach "Are you crying?" Hermione asks Ginny as she notices her friend wiping away stray tears from her face "A little" she mumbled "that's my little niece" Ginny said matter-of-factly "You do know that it could be a boy right?" Hermione chuckled at her friend "Let's just get these photo's and CD and head back before anyone realises that we've been gone" Ginny agree and the moment they got what they needed from the nurse the hurried out of there and headed back to Hogwarts.

Ginny and Hermione quickly changed into their school robes before all but running to potions "You're late" bellowed Snape from the front of the classroom "Weasly goo take your seat, Granger sit by Mr. Malfoy" Before either of the girls could protest Snape shouted again "NOW" both girls took their seats and huffed in annoyance as Snape continued with the lesson "And my day just got so much worse" Hermione mumbled to herself "yeah, well I'm not exactly thrilled to be sat next to you either" Draco scoffed out and Hermione just sighed and kept silent for the rest of the lesson.

Hermione and Ginny walked back to their dorms as they had a free period, they sat on Hermione's bed and looked at Hermione's scan photo's "So?" Ginny probed "What names have you thought of for my niece?" Ginny asked. Hermione chuckled "None, it could be a boy for all you know! Would you stop going on we have a while to go yet before thinking of a name" Hermione reminded her "yeah, you're right, but it doesn't hurt to think of names does it?" Ginny was far too excited about this "If it gets it out of your system, then you can write a list of names and I'll take them into consideration" Ginny smiled "Really?" she asked hopefully "Yes, really. Now let's stop talking about this and catch up with the work we missed in Snape's class" The girl's decided to go to the library and finish the work they missed.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

It had been 3 weeks since Hermione's scan and the girls had finally been able to figure out how to make a concealment top and Hermione was grateful as she had started showing and Pansy had started making comments on her weight. Hermione was sat on her bed finishing work for history of magic when Ginny walked in "Hey momma bear, how you feeling today" Ginny asked in her usual bubbly tone "I'm good, just a little tired and I wasn't sick today...and stop calling me momma bear" Hermione smiled "Not sick today? That's great. You know Harry's getting suspicious right?" Ginny asked "Yeah I know, he asked me the other day if I was still sick and why I was eating so much. I just told him that I was stressed with school work, which isn't exactly untrue, I'm so stressed about all this work we have to do and I'm scared about the baby and absolutely terrified about telling Harry and Draco. Oh God and Ron, what will Ron think..." Hermione was rambling so Ginny cut her off "Hermione, worrying isn't good for the baby and Ron isn't here anymore, I will handle Ron and as for the work, maybe if you told the teachers they'd go easy on you" Ginny suggested "No Gin, I don't to be treated any different from the others, I'm pregnant not dying—" Hermione got cut off by a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, she took in a sharp breath and doubled over in pain "Hermione? What's wrong? Are you okay? Is it the baby?" Ginny bombarded her with questions, none of which she answered as she was concentrating on breathing through the pain, "I'm going to get help" Ginny said worriedly "No" Hermione breathed out "The pains going" she panted out "I'm okay" Ginny looked at Hermione "Are you sure? I really think you should see Madam Pompfrey Mione" Ginny suggested "No, Really Ginny, I'm fine and I don't want Madam Pompfrey knowing about this, you know she'll tell Dumbledore" Hermione stated. She was so stubborn, Ginny thought to herself. There was no point in arguing with her, Ginny knew she wouldn't go to Madam Pompfrey. Hermione and Ginny left for their classes. Ginny watched Hermione with a close eye for the rest of the day, worried about her friends condition.

The rest of the week went rather smoothly, Hermione hadn't had another pain and there were no more snide remarks from Pansy thanks to the concealment tops Hermione and Ginny had made, all she had to do was survive one more week and then hello Christmas break "Hey momma bear" Ginny whispered inn Hermione's ear as they walked to "Hey" the two girls chatted as they made their way to history of magic class "Out of my way Granger" Draco snarled as he pushed passed her on the landing of the staircase shoving her into the wall, Hermione dropped her books and slumped down the wall as her hands flew to her stomach, the sharp pain had returned and tears stung her eyes "Oh my God, Hermione" Ginny gasped. Draco turned around on the staircase to see Ginny holding a pained Hermione "Oh, come on. I barely touched her" He said walking back towards them. Hermione had both her hands wrapped around her stomach taking in deep shaky breaths "Get up Granger, stop being dramatic" Draco spat looking at her crippled frame slumped on the floor "She's not being dramatic moron!" Ginny spat as Draco reached them "She's pregnant, you idiot" Draco just stared at Hermione trying to absorb what Ginny had just announced, he was drawn out of his trance when Hermione whimpered "Hermione, you're bleeding" all three of them looked down to find the thick crimson liquid trickling down her thigh. Draco didn't miss a beat, he instinctively picked her up in his arms and she cries out in pain "I'm sorry" he whispered in her ear and she nuzzles into his chest with one arm around his neck the other clenching her stomach.

"Where are you taking her?" Ginny asked following behind him, "I'm taking her to the hospital wing" Draco stated without slowing for Ginny "You can't" Ginny all but shouted at him "Why not?" Draco questioned still walking with haste "Because no one knows about this Draco, not Madam Pompfrey, not Dumbledore, not even Harry knows" Ginny huffed out struggling to keep up "well tough, Madam Pompfrey is about to find out" Draco said through gritted teeth, he couldn't believe that she hadn't told anyone except Weaslette.

As they entered the hospital wing Draco called out for Madam Pompfrey "We need some help. NOW!" he placed Hermione down on the hospital bed "What happened to her" a frantic Madam Pompfrey asked "She's pregnant and she's bleeding" Draco stated, he watched as Madam Pompfrey examined her, Ginny stood at the foot of the bed with her arms wrapped around herself. Each time Madam Pompfrey tried to examine Hermione's stomach she would whimper in pain, Draco watched her face as it contorted in pain and fresh silent tears rolled down her cheeks. He got down to her level and whispered in her ear "You have to let her look at you Granger, okay" She nodded before replying "It hurts Draco" she sobbed to him. He stroked her hair trying to comfort her "I know, and I apologise for what I'm about to do" Hermione gave him a quizzical look "Stupefy" Draco whispered with his wand pointed at her side he watched as Hermione's arms went limp and her eyes closed "Thank you Mr. Malfoy" said madam Pompfrey; Draco nodded and got out of the way so madam pompfrey could work on Hermione, He grabbed Ginny and walked her out of the hospital wing.

Once they were outside Draco turned to Ginny "Why didn't either of you tell me that she was pregnant?" Draco questioned his tone low as he tried to keep his temper in check "Are you serious? After the way you left her and treated her since. You really think she'd tell you? Anyway we only found out a few weeks ago!" Ginny retorted in an angry manner "What makes you think it's yours anyway?" she questioned back "Oh, give it up Weaslette. I know I'm the only person she's had sex with" Draco thought for a moment, he hadn't seen any changes to her physique "How far along is she? Or doesn't she care enough to know" he spat, his anger starting boil over.

"How dare you suggest that Hermione doesn't care about her child! She is scared out of her bloody mind and she is all alone in this you selfish prick, and she's just over 4 months pregnant; as if you even care." Ginny yelled back at the blonde "Of course I care!" Draco shouted "That is my child too, and if I had known sooner Granger wouldn't be in this on her own" he paused for a moment taking a breath trying to simmer his growing anger "4 months" he whispered to himself in astonishment "how did she manage to hide it, she must be showing? At least a little?" Draco questioned "She figured out how to make concealment tops, she wears them under her robes; although she's pregnant, the tops only show what her body looked like before she got pregnant" Ginny explained, Draco nodded "Smart" he stated. For the next hour Ginny and Draco sat against opposite walls in silence, the doors to the hospital wing opened and the sound echoed through the halls. Draco and Ginny both stood and faced madam pompfrey "Miss. Granger is going to be fine" Ginny sighed in relief "And what about the child?" Draco asked impatiently "Both miss. Granger and her child are doing fine, though I must say she did give us quite a scare, while examining her we found that it wasn't the first time Miss. Granger has been in this situation" Madam pompfrey paused before continuing "she must have been in agonising pain, where she went and why she didn't come to myself I will never know" Madam pompfrey sighed and returned to the wing; as Ginny followed, Draco reached out and grabbed her "why didn't you tell me that this had happened before?" He sneered, visibly angry with what madam pompfrey had told them "I didn't know! She had a pain in her side not too long back, but she said that she was okay. I had no idea that she had bled before, I swear" Draco let her go and walked into the hospital wing and Ginny trailed behind him.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Draco had told Ginny to go inform Dumbledore about the situation, she didn't want to argue so she did as she was told. Draco sat next to Hermione waiting for her to wake up so he could question her and scold her for what happened. After half an hour she still hadn't stirred, Draco leaned on the bed with his hands on his chin, his eyes level with her stomach; the curiosity was overwhelming. Draco checked that Hermione was still passed out before proceeding; he reached out his hand and gingerly placed it over her robes. He felt nothing, and then he thought about something else. He looked around to make sure no one would see what he was doing before he lifted up the top under her robes, he leaned back down so his eyes were level with her stomach; with her robes lifted Draco could now see the small protruding bump, he glanced up at Hermione's still sleeping form before gently running his hand over her bump, he leaned in closer completely fascinated.

Hermione felt a warm pressure on her stomach, she slowly opened her eyes to find Draco with his hand on her bump leaning in close, she didn't say anything at first, she was intrigued by his actions and surprised by the words that followed "Hey kid" Draco whispered "It's your dad" he paused tracing his thumb across her lower abdomen. It was completely inappropriate, but Hermione had to stifle a moan. _Stupid hormones._ Draco leaned in even closer as if he was telling the baby a secret "I have no intention of leaving you. Ever." He announced "I know that your mother and I don't get on very well, but I'll try to fix it. You're my world now." Hermione didn't think that Draco had a soft side, she didn't even know if he liked children. She thought she had seen his soft side once; that was the night she gave herself to him, but this was different, right now he thought no one was watching, he was vulnerable.

"You know jellybean can't respond right?" Hermione asked, Draco jumped slightly and retracted his hand from her stomach "Jellybean?" he questioned "how much of that did you hear?" he looked he straight at her with the emotion in his eyes unreadable "I heard enough" she replied simply "Jellybean" she started "The baby is the size of a peach. When Ginny and I saw it I thought it looked like a jellybean and since then it's been almost like a code word for the baby" Draco turned his head away in thought before returning to her gaze completely forgetting about the lecture he had planned on giving her. "How did you see the baby if you didn't come to Madam Pompfrey?" he asked confused by her comment.

Hermione reached into her robe pocket and pulled out the pristine sonogram photo and handed it to Draco. He stared at the picture tracing the outline of the baby with his fingers "That's my baby?" He asked in whisper "That's our baby" Hermione corrected offering him a small smile.

"Miss Granger? Mr. Malfoy? I believe you pair have something to tell me" Dumbledore announced as he walked into the hospital wing, interrupting the moment that Hermione and Draco were just having, Ginny trails in behind Dumbledore. Silence engulfed everyone in the room "It is to my understanding that you Miss Granger are pregnant and that you, are the father" Dumbledore said breaking the silence "Is my understanding correct?" he asked the pair, "Yes" Hermione replied "well, then I guess congratulations are in order, are they not?" Hermione and Draco along with Ginny looked at Dumbledore dumb fumbled; he chuckled to himself "Did you expect some kind of punishment?" Dumbledore asked, amused by the expressions on their faces "Well, I will have to inform your teachers, and we will have to sort out new living arrangements for you. As for your parents, I will let you deal with that matter yourselves" Dumbledore explained offering them a wide smile.

"Excuse me professor?" Hermione asked "what exactly do you mean by 'new living arrangements'?" she was curious as to what he meant "You two are going to be living in the same dorm from now on, it's private and out of the way. You can't very well be living in different dorms with a baby on the way can you?" Dumbledore said. Before Hermione could say anything Draco spoke "I hate to admit it but I think that's a good idea" Hermione looked between the two "Are you both completely mad?" Hermione asked throwing her arms out in exaggeration "We'll kill each other" She stated "Or you will fall in love with each other" Dumbledore offered as an opinion to which both Draco and Hermione scoffed "I think Draco has made it perfectly clear that he could _never_ fall in love with a mudblood like me. Isn't that right Draco?" Ginny screwed up her face to that vile word that Draco so loved to use against Hermione. Draco didn't answer her, instead he got up to walk away but before leaving he turned back to Hermione "we'll talk later. _Alone._ " Hermione nodded as Draco disappeared "It would seem that Mr. Malfoy's feelings have change toward you Miss. Granger" Dumbledore stated before leaving as well.

Ginny sat at the end of the bed "You scared me" Ginny said quietly "I scared myself" Hermione replied as Madam Pompfrey arrived at her bed "Well miss. Granger, if you feel fit enough I am more than willing to release you back to your dorm, however you're to rest, is that understood" Hermione nodded "You're to take the rest of the week off and I do apologise, but after today's events myself and Dumbledore see it fit to keep you here over Christmas break" before Hermione could protest madam pompfrey walked away "well there goes Christmas" Hermione sighed "I'm sorry Mione, I would stay with you, but you know what mum's like at Christmas" Ginny said apologetically "It's fine Ginny, I'll just roam the castle and see if I can find anything new!" the girls chuckled and talked for the rest of the evening until Madam Pompfrey discharged Hermione back to her dorm. She was sore so the girls had to walk slowly so that Hermione wasn't in too much pain.

"Where in Merlin's name have you pair been?" Harry all but yelled at the girls as they walked into the common room "calm down Harry, we've been with Madam Pompfrey" Ginny cussed herself for admitting to Harry where they had been "Why were you with Madam Pompfrey?" Harry questioned with a serious look in his eye "Mother Nature called Harry and I was in a lot of pain if you really need to know" Hermione announced, Harry pulled a face in which the girls laughed at before changing the topic. Before long everyone grew tired, as they said their goodnights to each other they went to bed; Ginny stayed with Hermione that night fearing that something might happen to her friend or the child.


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

It had been a few days since Hermione had been released from the hospital wing and Ginny was starting to get on Hermione's nerves, she understood that her friend was concerned but being at her side from the second her eyelids opened to the moment they shut at night is a bit excessive. She was grateful when Ginny had to go to class; it gave her time to breathe and enjoy her own company. Hermione still hadn't seen Draco since he left the hospital wing even though he had promised that they would talk. Hermione was bored of seeing her four walls so she decided to go for a walk around the school while Ginny was in lesson. Hermione dressed in her robes remembering to wear her concealment top underneath; to look at her straight on no one would know that she was pregnant, but from a side angle she was starting to show. Hermione walked aimlessly around the grounds for a little while, enjoying her momentary freedom before heading to the owlery to send a letter to her mother explaining as to why she would have to miss Christmas this year.

By the time Hermione had reached the top of the west tower she was out of breath and ready for sleep, she sighed to herself before opening one of the owl cages and tying the letter to its foot, she told the owl where to go and helped him into the air, watching as he flew away through the mountains. Hermione was so tired, her night's had been pretty restless; she couldn't get comfy, or when she did get comfy she needed to pee or Ginny would start snoring and it was impossible to sleep throughout the day with Ginny checking on her all the time. Hermione sat down and leaned against the wall of the owlery watching the owls come and go, before long, her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep to the owl's hoots.

Ginny returned from her lessons and went straight to Hermione's room to check on her, she knocked on the door and waited, when she got no reply she entered to find the room empty. Ginny thought for a moment ' _if i were Hermione where would I go?'_ after really thinking about it Ginny headed to the library. Hermione was probably just trying to occupy herself, or so Ginny hoped. After searching the library with no luck, she headed to the Slytherin common room; maybe Hermione had gone to see Malfoy. When she reached the common room she didn't bother trying to bribe the portrait into letting her in, she simply whispered the password she had gotten from Goyle and the door opened itself up to her.

Ginny stepped through the door, ignoring the glares she was getting from the Slytherin house; she found Malfoy lying on the couch "Have you seen Hermione" she asked abruptly, he turned his head in her direction sitting up slightly. Before replying to her question; he looked around to see if they were going to be heard, but no one dared approached Malfoy while he was in the middle of something "How did you get in here?" He mumbled "That doesn't matter" she replied "are you going to answer my question or not?" she asked impatiently "No, I have not seen Granger" he said matter-of-factly "fine" Ginny huffed as she spun on her heel. Draco hopped over the couch and stood in front of Ginny "why?" he questioned her "because she's not in her room, she not in the library and she's certainly not here and I don't know where else to look for her" Ginny explained "I don't understand why she would leave her room". Draco thought long and hard for a moment "Maybe it's because she's bored of seeing the same four walls for days on end and you're suffocating her with all your caring and shit" He knew what it felt like to feel boxed in and he understood why she wanted to get out "you really are an asshole Malfoy" Ginny spat before storming out of the Slytherin common room.

Draco left not long after Ginny thinking that he might know where Granger had run off too. His first stop was the astronomy tower; he knew that Granger liked to go there to think, so maybe she went there to escape.

He pushed open the door to the astronomy tower and was greeted by the familiar cold gush of air that hit him. "Granger?" He called out after her, he waited a moment for a reply and when he didn't get one he paused and thought to himself. He deducted where Ginny had looked for her and the places that she probably wouldn't go to and was left with only two possible places she would be; Hagrid's hut or the Owlery.

Draco decided to check the Owlery before heading to Hagrid's. He slowly climbed up the west tower and found her propped up against the owlery wall, her breaths deep and even with her arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen, subconsciously protecting the child. Draco placed a warm hand over hers before picking her up. She stirred in the arms as he carried her back to her dorm.

"Malfoy?" she questioned, looking up at him through sleepy eyes "What Granger?" he mumbled "Just clarifying that it's you, for a moment I thought I was having a nightmare but instead I'm living it" she mumbled back. "You're a pain in the arse, you know that Granger?" he paused and looked down at her as her eyes grew heavy "You've caused a lot of problems for me and here I am saving your ungrateful ass." Draco whispered the password to the Gryffindor common room and made his way up the staircase to her dorm, ignoring Ginny's persistent interrogation. He slammed Hermione's dormitory door behind him so he could have a moment with a sleeping Granger.

He placed her down gently on the bed and watched as her hands slowly loosened their grip from her stomach and reached for her pillow. He watched her silently for a moment, debating whether or not he should wake her so they could have their "chat" that he had promised her they'd have, but alas it would have to wait, she was exhausted so his questions would have to wait for another day; he picked up the throw that was neatly folded at the end of Hermione's bed and draped it over her, letting it rest at her hips. He sat on the side of the bed leaning over her slightly with one hand steadying himself on the inner side of the bed while his other hand lightly traced the hem of Hermione's top, he paused before lifting it to revealed her slightly protruding stomach. He smiled to himself as he trailed his thumb across her stomach causing Hermione to shiver; he removed his hand and pulled her top back down.

Draco leaned in towards Hermione and brushed a small strand of hair away from her face "I don't hate you because of you" he admitted "I hate you because of what my father did to me because of you" he leaned in closer as if he was afraid that someone would hear them "It's easier to hate you than to defy my father." With that Hermione stirred and sleepily mumbled "it's okay" before turning on her side. Draco got up and left sparing one last glance at Hermione.


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17_

Hermione got woken up by a completely outraged Ginny who ranted at her for her 'sudden disappearance' as Ginny put it..."Do you have any idea how worried I was!" Ginny exclaimed. The rant continued for another half an hour at least before Hermione couldn't take it anymore "Shut up Ginny!" Hermione yelled at her friend "excuse me?" Ginny whispered in disbelief "I said shut up! You're the whole reason I left the dorm room to begin with, you're suffocating me! If I needed to be mothered and wrapped in cotton wool I would just go home and let my own mother do that! You're my friend not my mother, I am not your responsibility nor do I appreciate being treated like a child" Hermione snapped at Ginny before heading to the bathroom and locking the door behind her. "I will stop treating you like a child when you realise that it's not all about you! You have a little person growing inside of you, when will you learn that your actions hold consequences for not only you but that child of yours too?" Ginny shouted through the door. Hermione had enough, she thought of her favourite place in the castle and disapparented herself; however she ended up in the most unexpected place. Draco Malfoy's Dorm room.

Just as Hermione appeared in Draco's room, he exited his shower room completely naked "For the love of Merlin" Hermione gasped as she turned away from him "What the hell Granger?" Malfoy shouted out "I'll explain in minute, but can you please get some clothes on?" she begged "Why? This is my room" he stated placing his hands on his hips, centring himself in the doorway "Ugh!" Hermione grunted "You're such a child" she replied as she turned to face him with her hands covering her eyes "Coming from the witch who is hiding behind her hands" he retorted with an amused chuckle "Malfoy!" she scolded "Okay, i'll get my gown".

After a brief moment he told her she could remove her hands from her eyes, she hesitated for a moment fearing that he hadn't put on his gown. When she opened her eyes he was standing in front of her wearing a black gown that was loosely tied at his waist, so that his chest was on show. Hermione couldn't help but stare, _damn hormones_ , she thought to herself "Now, now Granger, no need for the longing stare; all you have to do is ask" he drawled out in a low, dangerous tone while slowly and alluringly walking towards her. Her breathing started to quicken with each step he took towards her "Stop walking" she mumbled out quickly, almost begging him to stop "Mmmm, but seeing that look on your face is too good" he laughed out. It was a game to him, and Hermione didn't like to be played.

"Why do you hate me because of your father?" she blurted out. Draco stopped dead in his tracks "You heard me?" he questioned "I thought you were sleeping" he stated "I was" she clarified "I thought it was just a dream but you just confirmed that it wasn't" she sighed before continuing "Are you going to answer me?" she questioned him; he turned his back to her "Get out" he whispered as his shoulders rose and fell with his growing anger "What?" Hermione asked confused "I said GET OUT!" He bellowed at her in a loud, harsh voice. Hermione jumped slightly, taken aback by his sudden anger "NO!" she shouted back at him.

Draco half turned his head so he could see Hermione from the corner of his eye, not wanting to fully face her "Draco" she whispered out softly "What did I do?" she questioned, careful not to press him into anything. She knew how volatile he could get "You beat me" he stated with a dark and hateful chuckle, he walked over to his double bed and sat down before looking up at Hermione and gesturing her to sit by him. He waited for her to sit before he continued "Potter had already beaten me at quidditch, Weasly beat me at nothing and you beat me academically" Hermione just looked at him and waited for him to continue "Father could handle my beaten by Potter, he's a pureblood after all, but to be beaten by you..." he paused momentarily as if preparing himself for something awful "Father couldn't have that." He paused again, Hermione looked up at his face and he looked pained "you can show me, instead of telling me" Hermione suggested "I suppose" Draco agreed, he turned towards her and grabbed her face in his hands "You ready?" he asked Hermione nodded and with a whispered incantation she shot back to that moment in time that made Draco Malfoy hate her.

** _flash back**_

" _You got beaten academically by a mudblood?" Lucius yelled as he smacked Draco across the face, his rings splitting Draco's lip._

" _F-father" Draco stammered "You don't understand" he started as Lucius swung his cane and cracked it into Draco's ribs._

" _I don't understand what boy?" he bellowed "That you not only let Potter better you at quidditch, but you let a filthy mudblood beat you in academics?" He hit Draco again causing him to fall to him knees._

 _Lucius pulled on Draco's hair, forcing him to look at his father. Lucius chuckled "To get beaten by Potter I understand, at least you were beaten by a fellow pure blood but Granger? You bring nothing but shame to this family and if you weren't the only heir I had I would kill you right now, with no hesitation" he said calmly with a sickening smile plastered on his vile face_

" _Oh Lucius" Narcissa cried from besides him "let him be, It was by a mere decimal that Granger beat him by" Lucius slowly turned his head toward Narcissa before backhanding her across the face. Narcissa's head snapped to the side and she stumbled back from the force of his attack, she looked between the two men before fleeing the room with tears rolling down her face_

" _You see Draco, your mother is wrong to teach you that to be beaten is perfectly acceptable" He let go of Draco's hair and rolled up his sleeves. "I am going to show you what it really means to get beat" his father seethed at him, Draco took a sharp breath in and mentally prepared himself for what was to come._

 _Lucius grabbed a handful of Draco's hair once again and forced him to look up "you will learn" he promised his son before his fist connected with Draco's face sending him into a crumpled mess on the marble floor, the blood from his wounds coating the white floor crimson red. Before Draco could move, his father's steel capped shoe connected with his abdomen and then with his jaw causing a sickening crack to ricochet off the walls._

 _His beating continued until his father grew bored, it was brutal and undeserving yet he had to endure it."Now you know better than to get beaten by a filthy, loathsome mudblood, don't you Draco" Draco nodded. He watched his father leave him there in a bruised, swollen and bloodied mess. Alone and broken._

 _**_ _End flash back**_

Hermione opened her eyes and looked painfully at Draco with silent tears streaming down her face "I'm so sorry" she whispered wholeheartedly, Draco whipped the tears away from her eyes and pulled her into a tight embrace, smoothing her hair "It's okay" he breathed out as Hermione started to sob into his shoulder "You're not the one who beat me" he whispered as he tightly closed his eyes and let a single tear fall down his face.


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18_

After a while Draco let go of Hermione "you never did explain how you ended up in my room" he stated as he got up from his bed and walked towards his dressing table "To be completely honest with you, I have no idea how I ended up here. Ginny was ranting at me so I locked myself in the bathroom, and when that didn't hint at her that I wanted to be left alone, I thought of the astronomy tower and disapparented myself there, but somehow I ended up here" she explained to him as he searched through his dressing table "Hmm" Draco hummed as he pulled out his wand from the dressing table "The astronomy tower and my bedroom are two very different things Granger, and disapparenting in your pyjama's? Blue, silky pyjamas. Naughty, naughty" he winked at her and chuckled, Hermione stood up and crossed her arms under her chest causing her pyjama top to bunch around her growing abdomen. Draco noticed that she wasn't wearing her concealment top and he started walking back towards her "you're showing" he stated matter-of-factly "well duh, I am pregnant" she pointed out "I've never seen you without your concealment top on, other than when I lift it when you're sleeping" he admitted "may I?" he gestured toward her stomach "yeah, of course".

Draco gently placed both hands on her rounded belly and started tracing circular motions with his thumbs, his gaze never leaving her stomach while her gaze never left his face. After a few minutes Hermione felt a weird sensation coming from her abdomen, she took in a sharp breath that caught Draco's attention "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly "uh, yeah. Do that again" she ordered him "what?" he asked, confused by her request "The circular motions, do it again" he obliged and continued with the circular motions, when he did the unfamiliar sensation came back stronger, it was almost as if the baby was responding to Draco "Do you feel that?" she asked him, he shook his head and she asked him to continue the motions. When she felt the sensation again, she grabbed Draco's hand and moved it to the lower right side of her abdomen and held his hand there, when he felt a small flutter he looked up at Hermione, wide eyed in astonishment "Is that what I think it is?" he asked Hermione "Yeah" she chuckled. With that Draco let go of her stomach and grasped her face in his hands before smashing his lips against hers in a desperate, yet passionate kiss.

When they finally broke apart from there heated and much needed affections, both were left quite speechless. "Whoa" floated out of Hermione's mouth as she licked her lips and tried to compose herself "That's one way to put it" Draco smirked "You're the reason I'm going to hell" Hermione chuckled. Her statement gave Draco a thought "Do you think the kid brought you here instead of the tower?" Hermione looked at him and then wrapped her hands around her stomach "It's not impossible, the baby has magic too" they both thought for a moment "Disapparent yourself to the tower" Hermione ordered "Excuse me?" Hermione pulled a face "Don't argue with me just do it" Draco huffed but complied with her.

Once Draco had disapparented himself to the tower it was time to test her theory. Hermione thought of her room and disapparented, only to appear in the astronomy tower with Draco "And the point in that was?" he questioned her "I thought of my room and ended up here" she paused looking at his confused face "with _you"_ Hermione watched as Draco realised what she was getting at "For the love of Merlin, he wanted his dad so he followed me" a goofy grin spread across Draco's face "Wait a minute, he? You do realise that it could be a she right?" Draco rolled his eyes "It doesn't matter, we have a smart and apparently powerful jellybean" Hermione chuckled at Draco's use of their babies nickname and to Draco's surprise Hermione walked over to him and embraced him "powerful indeed" she agreed.

"I hate to break this up" Ginny interrupted from the tower door "But I'm still not finished with you Mione and what in god's name are you doing up here in your pyjama's?" Hermione groaned and planted her face into Draco's chest, he too was growing tired of her constant interference "hold on" he whispered into Hermione's ear "Sorry Weaslette, but you're boring the fuck out of me and I have certain matters to attend to" he paused looking down at Hermione and grinning before continuing "If you know what I mean" with that he winked at Ginny and disapparented both himself and Hermione out of the room leaving Ginny alone. "Dick" Ginny muttered to herself before leaving the tower.


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter 19_

Draco and Hermione appeared in her room "she really is incessant isn't she?" Draco chuckled "yes" Hermione huffed out walking away from Draco, clearly annoyed at her friends good intensions "you need to leave" she told Draco while pacing the length of her room "Are you ordering me to leave?" Draco asked "yes" she said plainly "You need to leave before Ginny comes back and accuses me of sleeping with you" she explained still pacing "Hate to break it to you little snake, but we have slept together, I do believe the evidence is currently growing in you" He smirked thinking he was being funny. Hermione stopped pacing and marched up to him stopping inches away from his face "You are the only snake in this room Malfoy and I am fully aware that I am carrying _your_ child, you don't have to remind me. Of all the people I had to get stuck with, it had to be you!" she hissed out before turning her back on him.

Draco was confused at her sudden change in character; a minute ago they couldn't keep away from each other and now she's pushing him away as if she can't stand the sight of him "You really know how to make a guy feel great Granger" He replied to her comment "who knew half your heart was cold" he stated before abruptly disapparenting himself out of her room.

"Draco, I'm sor—"Hermione turned around to apologise to him for her sudden outburst to find that he had left. Who could blame him? She had been cruel when all he tried to do was help. _What is wrong with me?_ She thought to herself as she walked to the corner of her room and slid down the wall hugging her knees and started to cry. She hated being this emotional around him, it's like every emotion she's ever felt in her whole life hits her all at once when she's around him. She doesn't know whether to hit him, kiss him or fuck him and it's all too much for her, these hormones are starting to drive her crazy.

Hermione had been sat there hugging her knees for a while when Ginny burst into her room, she took one look at Hermione's puffy red eyes and all the anger she had melted away from her "What did that jackass do?" Ginny questioned as she walked over to her friend and sat beside her, Hermione just shook her head and started to cry again; Ginny wrapped a supportive arm around her and waited for Hermione to compose herself "He didn't do anything" Hermione sniffled "He brought us here and I snapped at him. I was so mean Gin, I didn't mean most of what I said" she took a shaky breath before continuing "He was so nice and we were sort of getting along and out of nowhere, I got really angry and I don't know why. I could blame it on the hormones but then that would only be a partial truth" she explains to Ginny, who was slightly confused by Hermione's last statement.

"Partial truth?" Ginny enquired "Yeah... since this happened" she made a circular motion around her stomach "He's been nothing but nice and it's weird! Malfoy doesn't perform selfless actions; he always does things that will in some way benefit him" she paused and looked at Ginny, hoping that she would have the answers "What on earth would he be getting out of all of this?" she asked. Ginny took a moment to arrange her thoughts, Hermione was right. Not once in all the years that they have known Malfoy has he done something selfless or done something that doesn't benefit him "I guess, by you having his child he gets an heir to his fortune" Hermione huffed "Great, so he used me to bare his offspring" Ginny chuckled at Hermione's comment "Or maybe Malfoy isn't the bad guy we've all depicted his as" Ginny offered "Highly unlikely" Hermione replied "I'm tired Gin, I just want to be left alone. I'll see you after perhaps" Hermione said. Ginny nodded and left her alone to sulk in her room.

Ginny decided it was time for her and Malfoy to have a little chat.


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20_

Ginny disapparented herself into Draco's room, he was lying on his bed with a book in front of his face; he was yet to realise that Ginny was in his room "Uh-hum" Ginny coughed to grab Malfoy's attention. Draco dropped his book from the sudden sound "For Merlin's sake!" he exclaimed "You do know there's a thing called knocking, you should try it some time. What do you want Weaslette?" he demanded, Ginny just stared at him "Well? Are you going to say something or just stand there and waste my time? He sneered, staring at her with dark eyes "You're an arsehole" Ginny stated matter-of-factly, Draco just sat there looking at her waiting for Ginny to announce why she just appeared in his room. "I just want to talk" she finally said and Draco started to ramble "No, I did not fuck Granger, no I did not touch Granger inappropriately" a smirk slowly spread across his face, highlighting his dark eyes "No matter how much I wanted to and no, I didn't hurt her."

Ginny looked at him confused "What are you talking about?" Draco got off his bed and waltzed rather slowly toward her "The accusations you were about to throw at me Weaslette, I answered them before you could ask them" he replied simply "I wasn't going to accuse you of anything actually" she replied matter-of-factly "I know what happened, Hermione told me she was mean"

Draco was slightly confused; if the redhead wasn't here to accuse him of things then what was she here about? "I think you and Hermione need to stay away from each other" she stated "Well you don't beat around the bush do you Weasly?" He was not impressed by her comment "You need to stay away. You're causing her emotions to go haywire and the last thing we need is an emotionally pent up Hermione around magic, and now we know that the baby has a say in what her magic does, we don't need her accidently exploding something when she gets angry, or sexually frustrated because of you" It was universally known that Ginny didn't like Malfoy, but she was pushing it by telling him to stay away from Hermione.

"Maybe I'm exactly what Granger needs. We don't know what the baby can do, so far, he follows me. I wouldn't exactly call that "having a say" in Granger's magic and if she gets sexually frustrated, she knows where to find me" Draco's eyelashes cast a shadow under his eyes making him look menacing, he took two long strides and leaned in close to Ginny's ear "You ever threaten me again, and I will kill you. Understand?" He didn't wait for her reply, instead he walked calmly to his bathroom and closed the door. Not a minute after, he heard Ginny's voice from the other side of the closed door.

"You stay away from her Malfoy, or I will make up something so awful about you that she'll have no choice but to believe it, then I will help her leave and go into hiding, making sure that you will never see your child again. Do you hear me Malfoy? I will take your child away... so if I were you Malfoy, I'd break Hermione's heart before I take what's dear to you."

Draco yanked open the bathroom door but the redhead had made a scurried exit "BITCH" he roared as he swiped his hand across his bookshelf knocking everything off with a clattering thud. She had backed him into a corner and until he could figure his way out, he would have to play the game her way.

The day after Ginny's threat, Draco searched for Hermione and found her in the great hall having breakfast with the redhead herself. He walked up to the Gryffindor table and wrapped his pale hand around Hermione's upper arm and yanked her up, she was immediately enraged by his manhandling her "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Let me go Malfoy" she ordered, he leaned into her ear "Unless you want me to announce that you're pregnant in this _extremely_ busy hall, I recommend you come with me" he whispered harshly, she complied with him in fear that he would announce her pregnancy.

Draco dragged her out into the hall and Hermione pulled her arm out of his grasp "What is this all about?" she questioned "Not here" he stated and grabbed her again dragging her down the hall, he let go of her upper arm when they reached the girls bathroom "You were right" he spat "I am a snake, and I did what snakes do best; I poisoned you. I made you think that I cared for you, more than once and you fell for it. All you mudblood's are the same, the second I showed you attention you let me fuck your brains out, you were begging me for more! The great Hermione Granger begging her sworn enemy to fuck her, where was your self-respect and dignity? Did you lose it when you lost your panties?" He hated this, but the second he figures a way out of Ginny's grasp he would explain it all. The tears that were filling her eyes were tearing him apart and there was nothing he could do.

"You screwed everything up Granger!" he yelled at her causing her to flinch "Because of you, I get beat" he turned away from her as the tears in her eyes began to spill over "You always have to be smarter than everyone else" he said in a calm manner "Or so I thought" he chuckled "If you were that smart, you wouldn't have let yourself get knocked up and now we're stuck together because of a damn child that I don't even want" he seethed out through gritted teeth. Every word that was coming out of his mouth was a lie; he wanted his child more than anything. "And when father finds out that you're pregnant, I'll have to endure yet another beating due to your mistake. I have made many mistakes, but to lay with a filthy mudblood was by far the worst mistake I've ever made." With that final statement Draco left, before Hermione could see the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

Hermione stood in the girl's bathroom crying silently to herself, wishing that Draco Malfoy didn't exist.


	21. Chapter 21

_Chapter 21_

Draco had been avoiding Hermione for the past two days, he felt awful about what he said but there was nothing he could do "Ah, , just the person I was searching for" Dumbledore hummed walking towards him in the corridor "Yes professor" Draco replied "I have something to show you and Miss Granger, any idea's on where she could be?" Draco suggested that Hermione might be in the library and both he and Dumbledore headed there to look for her. When they reached the library he noticed Hermione sat at the back of the library, studying as always, he knew that she would not be pleased to him and he would have to be a total prick to her to keep her at arm's length, not that, that would be a problem. He couldn't help but think about how adorable she looked when she thought no one was looking.

"Miss. Granger, would you follow me please?" Professor Dumbledore asked with Draco at his side, Hermione sighed when her eyes fell upon him. They walked through the halls in silence before the professor came to an abrupt stop next to a portrait "Excuse me professor" Hermione interjected "What are we doing here?" she queried "You're picking the password to your new living arrangements, of course" Dumbledore stated "What would you like your password to be?" he asked "How about insufferable know it all?" Draco sneered, looking at Hermione "Maybe it should be conceited, rich, arrogant ferret, I do believe that's a more fitting password" Hermione spat staring at Draco. Dumbledore chuckled "Insufferable ferret it is then" when Dumbledore announced the password the portrait door slowly opened itself to them "These are your new quarters, when you reach the top of the stairs you will find two more paintings, now I presume that the pair of you can sort out which room is which, you will each have your own personal password to your rooms, and I trust that you'll try not to kill each other" Dumbledore laughed at his own statement before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Hermione was shocked and amazed by how big and beautiful their common room was and could only imagine how amazing her bedroom must be. Draco looked over at Hermione and noticed her in awe at the room they were standing in "What's the matter Granger? Never seen a place like this before? I thought it was only your little mates who didn't know the meaning of luxury"

"Believe it or not Malfoy, we're not all as filthy rich as you are" she sneered at him "And Ginny and Ron may not have money, but at least they have values and tact unlike you, you deceitful, lying, cheating, hateful piece of—"

"You're so hot when you're mad Granger" He cut her off while walking towards her. Hermione stumbled backwards, still not wanting to be around him, but her plans of escape failed when her brain refused to cooperate and she unintentionally cornered herself, handing the game over to Malfoy. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head and secured her body against the wall by thrusting his hips onto hers, Hermione made no attempt to free herself; in all honesty, she liked not being in control for once, however, she was not going to let Draco have her again.

Hermione yanked one hand out of his grasp and placed it gently on Draco's face, _two can play this game_ she thought to herself, before arching her back and craning her neck so her lips hovered over his. Draco leaned in a little closer so that their foreheads were touching; Hermione brushed her lips against his, never fully indulging him in what he wanted. He released her other hand so he could hold her waist, he slowly drew his hips off of hers and pried her off the wall his free hand playfully tracing lines along the side of her torso.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat, as much as she wanted this to happen she needs him to know that he is not in control. Hermione placed both her hands on Draco's face and smoothed his cheeks with her thumb, she drew him in closer and planted small heated kisses along the line of his cheekbone before coming to rest by his ear "I'm not that easy" she drawled out in a seductive whisper before pushing him back and out of her way. Hermione walked to her room, and presented her portrait with a password. Once alone in her room, Hermione let out a long sigh.

This was not going to be easy.


	22. Chapter 22

_Chapter 22_

The Christmas holidays had arrived and Hogwarts was covered in a blanket of snow, Hermione watched from her new dorm room window as the students hurried out the grounds, heading to the station eager to see their parents, Hermione, however would be stuck at Hogwarts this Christmas due to unforeseen circumstances. As much as Hermione hated being away from her parents at Christmas, it was probably for the best; at least this way she didn't have to endure her parents lectures on how immature and stupid they think she is by getting pregnant, and seeing as her mother never did write back, she thought it best to leave her mother come to terms with it. On the flip side, once everyone's left it will just be madam Pompfrey and herself, well until she leaves to see her daughter on Christmas that is, and Hermione will finally be allowed to walk the halls without her concealment top on and better yet, no Malfoy. Two weeks free from hiding, Hermione could think of nothing better.

The first week of the holiday flew by, she had found being alone quite calming. She and madam Pompfrey shared lunch and dinner together every day and discussed other students and some of the completely ridiculous things that people had been brought into the hospital wing for, Hermione found madam Pompfrey rather fun to be around; as tomorrow was Christmas, Madam Pompfrey was to leave shortly to be with her daughter "Are you sure that you'll be fine dear?" madam Pompfrey asked, concerned about Hermione being alone in the castle "I'll be perfectly safe madam, and I know how to contact you if I need anything. Now go and be with your daughter" Hermione ordered ushering her out of the gate. They exchanged smiles before madam pompfrey caught the last train out of Hogwarts.

When Hermione returned to her dorm she searched for her old record player, once she dug it out she popped in The Beatles and started to dance; she looked around the room and decided to make it look more festive, with a flick of her wand a perfectly trimmed tree appeared next to the fireplace and trimmings hung from above her. The room smelt like hot chocolate and cinnamon, it was perfect.

As Hermione sat on the sofa with the clock nearing midnight she noticed that the star on top of the tree was slightly crooked, she found a step ladder in one of the cupboards and started to climb it when a voice coming from the corner of the room startled her "You shouldn't be stretching" the deep voice belonged to a man she hoped she wouldn't see for at least another week "Why is that Malfoy?" she asked slightly aggravated "You might hurt the baby" he stated with a small hint of sarcasm "I'm pretty sure that in the 19 weeks I've been carrying her, I've stretched" Hermione stated smugly before fixing the star and carefully clambering off the step ladder "See? No harm done" she threw him an irritated look before returning to the sofa; Draco decided to sit next her "Granger I—"he paused "Never mind"

Hermione didn't mind him sitting next to her, it was rather comforting actually, and the heat radiating from his body was making her tired. She wanted to ask him why he had come to her instead of being at home for Christmas, but that question would have to wait; Hermione could feel herself drifting off to sleep, as the clock chimed midnight Hermione slumped into Draco's shoulder "Merry Christmas Granger" he said softly "Merry Christmas Draco" she replied sleepily, finally letting her tiredness consume her. Draco planted a small kiss on her head before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, allowing her head to fall into his chest before he too fell asleep in front of the warm fire.


	23. Chapter 23

_Chapter 23_

Hermione woke up early as she usually did on Christmas day, the fire had died out and it was a little chilly, however she was being warmed by Draco's hard body that was holding her close. Draco was sound asleep, his head tilted upwards while he snored lightly, Hermione untangled herself from his body, careful not to wake him; she grabbed the blanket that was neatly folded over the top of the sofa and draped it over him, before she went to her room to grab her deep blue fluffy dressing gown that her mother had bought her last Christmas.

Draco was woken by the smell of pancakes, he cracked his eyes open an inch and saw Hermione flipping a pan in the kitchen while swaying her body to the beat of quiet music. He stretched and sighed as his back and shoulders cracked, he got up and made his way to the kitchen "Didn't know you could cook" Draco's low voice startled Hermione and she let out a small gasp, she finished cooking the pancakes before turning around to look at him; his hair was a mess with stands falling in front of his eyes "We don't all have maids to cook for us" she stated plainly turning away from him to finish dressing the pancakes before walking over to the kitchen table.

She gestured for Draco to sit and they sat on opposite sides of the table, "Why are you here?" Hermione asked while Draco shoved another pancake in his mouth "Why not" he replied with a mouth full of food "That's disgusting" Hermione mumbled as she took another bite of her food "What?" he asked innocently like a child being scolded "Your parents _clearly_ didn't teach you any manners" Draco just looked at her like a confused puppy "Don't eat with your mouth open, I really don't want to see what you're eating" she stated, annoyed at his lack of manners; Hermione stood up, her stomach lightly bumping the table as she did so, she huffed at how big she was getting before picking up the plate and moving to the sofa to finish eating her breakfast.

"Now who's rude?" Draco huffed out "Excuse me?" Hermione bit back in a high pitched tone, "You're lecturing me for bad manners, when you just walked away from the table in the middle of breakfast without excusing yourself. Talk about being a hypocrite" Draco said raising his voice, annoyed at the mother of his child. Hermione just stared at him, a thousand insults went flooding through her head and she chose to say nothing, not wanting to cause an argument; instead she walked back to the table and placed her food down before turning on her heel and walking out of their dorm room and into the castle.

A few hours had passed and Hermione still hadn't returned to the dorm, Draco was starting to worry. After another half an hour he grabbed his jacket and went looking for her, as predicted he found her sat in the owlery; her head was in her hands with her knees pulled into her, Draco heard her sniffling "What did I do this time?" he asked, surprised to see her upset "Not everything is about you Malfoy" she hiccupped, Draco sighed and sat next to her nudging her slightly "What's the matter Granger?" he asked , genuinely bewildered as to why she would be so upset on Christmas "Tell me, what did you get for Christmas?" Draco listed off the things that his parents had got him, which was of course everything he asked for, he was confused by her question so he asked her why "I got nothing" she sniffed "Not even a lousy card" her chocolate eyes shimmered as fresh tears rolled down her red tinted cheeks "She didn't even write back to me you know? When I told her I was pregnant, she never wrote back to me, and now she's ignoring me on Christmas" she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself "She hates me Draco. She hates me"

Draco couldn't help but feel guilty "You were right" Hermione stated "I was stupid enough to get knocked up, and now my parents don't want me anymore" Draco started to get angry, he didn't mean a word of what he said to her, but for her parent's to make her believe that she isn't wanted at the happiest time in the year, that's just a shitty thing to do.

"Screw your parents" Draco said while standing up and offering her his hand "What?" she asked as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion "You don't need your parent's, you're a mother now and you're needed and I didn't mean a word I said in the girl's bathroom. I'll explain it all to you later, but right now it's snowing and we're missing out on Christmas, so come on" He said as he enveloped his hand in hers and pulled her down the staircase and into the courtyard; he let go of her hand "What are you doing Malfoy? It's freezing out he-" her sentence got cut off as a ball of snow smacked her in the face, Draco was weak with laughter at the expression on Hermione's face.

Hermione bent down a grabbed a handful of snow and hurdled it at Malfoy but he jumped out the way before it could hit him "Too slow" he taunted her; she grabbed another handful of snow and broke it into two balls, she threw the first one to distract him and as he dodged the first snowball the second one she threw hit him in the back of his head "Now who's too slow?" she laughed. They played and laughed in the snow until the light snow fall became a blizzard and they were cold and wet.

When they got back to the dorm Draco lit the fire and started to heat up the kettle "Take your clothes off Granger" he ordered her and he went around the room lighting candles trying to warm their dorm up "Excuse me?" Hermione asked, taken aback by his order "Take your clothes off" he repeated before adding "They're wet, and the longer you just stand there gawking at me the more likely you are to get ill, now take your clothes off" Hermione walked up the stairs to her bedroom and did what she was told, however, her top had clung to her and she was having trouble getting it off. She called out to Draco, who was at her door before she could finish saying his name "What is it? Are you okay?" he asked from the other side of the door "Yeah, I'm okay, I'm just a bit stuck" she could hear Draco chuckling "What do you mean 'a bit stuck'?" he asked, clearly amused "I can't get my top off" Draco flat out laughed from the other side of the door "I can't help from out here, let me in" Hermione told the portrait to let him and his laughter came to immediate stop as he saw her standing there in jogging bottoms and her bra.

Draco walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips pulling her into him "If this was just a way to somehow lure me into bed, you're going the right way about it Granger" he chuckled "Malfoy this is not funny. Help me!" her top was stuck on her chest just above her black lace bra, Draco pealed the top off her and watched her hair fall gently over her shoulders, her body still pressed against his; they stayed that way for a while until Hermione regained her senses and remembered what he said to her that day in the girl's bathroom "I should...Uh, get a top on" she mumbled before moving away from him and rummaging through her draws until she found an old baggy Beatles top. Draco watched her as she moved around him to rifle through her draw, just after she put her top on he suggested that they go downstairs and have hot chocolate and make dinner.


	24. Chapter 24

_Chapter 24_

After dinner Hermione brought up their earlier conversation "So are you going to explain?" she asked "Explain what?" he looked at her, confused "Earlier, you said that you would explain why you didn't mean any of the things you said last week" Draco sighed "You won't believe me if I told you" Draco stated, he knew that Granger would never believe that her friend would threaten another soul "Try me" she challenged him, so he explained to her what happened, stopping every now and then trying to read her facial expressions.

"Why would she do that?" Hermione asked, upset and confused by this revelation "Your guess is as good as mine" he replied to her "And to answer your question from this morning, being here with you at Christmas, was a hell of lot better than being with my father" neither one of them ever brought either topic up again for the rest of the night, instead, Hermione showed his some muggle board games which he rather enjoyed, as far a Christmas's went, this wasn't the worst she'd had.

The rest of the week flew by and she and Draco managed to get on reasonably well, they argued of course, but they were able to figure it out without something blowing up or one of them storming out. Draco returned home to retrieve his belongings before returning to Hogwarts on the train with everyone else. Hermione watched from her window as students poured into the courtyard, reuniting with friends.

When Hermione saw Ginny she made her way to the Gryffindor common room and waited for Ginny in her bedroom, Ginny opened her bedroom door and dropped her belongings when she saw Hermione standing by her bed; Ginny tackled Hermione onto the bed in a bear hug, however Hermione did not return her friends gesture "What's the matter Mione? Didn't you miss me?" she asked eagerly "Why did you threaten Draco?" Hermione asked "What?" Ginny's eyes widened at her question "I said, why did you threaten Draco?" Ginny rambled, changing her story trying to worm her way out of it and make Draco look like the bad guy, Hermione grew tired of her and silenced her with a spell.

"You're supposed to be my friend, and you go and threaten the father of my child telling him that you will take his child away from him if he didn't break my heart" she paused, looking at her friend who had tears in her eyes "Why would you do that?" she asked breaking the silence spell "I just wanted to protect you, you're better off without him" Ginny explained her tears staining her cheeks "That wasn't your decision to make" Hermione said flatly before leaving Ginny's room and returning to her own dorm.

Draco was unpacking the last of his things when he heard Hermione in the kitchen; he finished putting his clothes away before heading down to her. Hermione was scrubbing the table aggressively and she looked like she was about to blow something up at any point "You okay? He asked cautiously "Yep, why do you ask?" she questioned scrubbing the table more vigorously "Because if you scrub the table anymore you're going to wear a hole in it. You're magic is unpredictable, so do you want to tell me what's wrong before you blow something up?" he suggested which only angered her more "I'M FINE" she snapped causing the cupboard doors to come off their hinges and cups and plates to blow up. Both Draco and Hermione ducked behind the table as her magic went haywire "Whoops" she whispered as the kitchen stopped blowing up.

Draco helped Hermione to clean the mess in the kitchen "I'm sorry" she whispered to him "I didn't mean to snap at you, I was just mad at Ginny" he just nodded and left the conversation there not wanting her to get mad. "I told my mother" Draco blurted out "You told her what?" Hermione asked quizzically "That you're pregnant" He stated "Oh" she said doubtfully "She was rather... happy" Draco paused before continuing "And she wants us to visit... when fathers not there of course" he turned to her as he finished his sentence "Okay" Hermione drawled out in a quiet murmur "We can go see your mother" she agreed, subconsciously putting a protective hand over her stomach.

Dumbledore called the pair into his office before the first evening dinner of the new term. He informed them that at the dinner it would be announced that they were now head boy and head girl and that is why they are staying in the same living quarters, that way it would stop people asking questions as to why they were spending so much time together and stop suspicion as to why they are living in the same quarters. Both Hermione and Draco thought it was the best course of action.

Once dessert appeared on the house tables Dumbledore stood up and announced head boy and girl, the hall erupted into gasps and instant whispers; of course Hermione and Draco threw each other glares and snarls and insulted one another to their friends as a charade so the houses would think that they hated the idea of having to breathe the same air as each other and they pulled it off rather well, no one in the hall was none the wiser about their situation, asides from Ginny who didn't turn up for dinner.

"Hermione" Harry called her from across the table "Yeah" she answered "Do you know what's wrong with Ginny? She refused to come to dinner and she sounded upset" Hermione paused and thought to herself before answering him ' _it is always better to tell the truth'_ "Yeah, we had an argument earlier, she had kept something from me and we had a few words, she probably avoided dinner to avoid me" Harry didn't press the subject any further, instead he told her about Christmas at the Weasley's and how it wasn't the same without her there.

Hermione got into the dorm much later than Draco had, Harry had talked her ear off about their holiday period and what he got up to; she was glad to have her friend back, but the incessant talking was a bit much from Harry. Hermione collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh and watched the flames of the fire rise and fall as if it were breathing.

"I despise that Potter" Draco sneered from behind Hermione causing her to jump "You scared the living crap out of me! Don't sneak up on me like that again" Hermione scolded him half heartedly "I didn't sneak up on anyone" he bit back, clearly annoyed "You came back late because you were with scar-head, I watched you two from my table, laughing and touching each other. I bet you still haven't told him you're pregnant, I mean if you had he wouldn't have been all over you, I wonder how he'll feel when he finds out" Draco started walking towards the door "Let's find out shall we?" he asked reaching for the door.

Hermione jumped in front of him and placed her hands firmly on his chest, stopping him from going any further "What the hell is wrong is wrong with you?" she asked urgently "Were you not listening" he asked sarcastically before his voice became dark and somewhat dangerous "He touched what's mine".

Hermione took her hands off his chest and stood up straight "I am not property" she whispered "Nor am I yours" she clarified in a voiced dipped in disbelief "Harry and I just talked on the stairs after dinner, we are friends, nothing more" she said matter of factly, sticking her nose up to him as she walked to the stairs "You were probably screwing him" Draco accused "That's why you came home late" Hermione turned to face him, her mouth open in shock at his accusation "Oh, pick your mouth up off the floor, it's extremely unattractive" he whipped at her.

Hermione marched up to him, getting in his face "You are the only person I have regrettably slept with, how dare you accuse me of screwing around you paranoid jackass" she seethed before continuing "Home?" she questioned "This is not home, anywhere where you are is not my home" she whipped around, her hair lashing across his face.

"Well wherever your parents live isn't home either because they sure as shit don't want you and if your parent's won't have you, and if this" he gestured around their common room with his arms outspread "Isn't your home, doesn't that make you homeless?" he queried sarcastically. Hermione turned once again to face him, his words cut like knives and tears stung her eyes "screw you" she whispered, turning quickly to walk up the stairs.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you" he baited her, without turning around and continuing up the stairs she yelled "SCREW YOU!" through her tear and the baubles on the Christmas tree exploded.

"Fuck" Draco whispered to himself.

Draco sat outside Hermione's bedroom door all night and listened to her cry herself to sleep. He couldn't help but think if Ginny was right, maybe she was better off without him but he won't leave her, not now and not as long as their child lives.


	25. Chapter 25

_Chapter 25_

It had been three weeks and Hermione was still not talking to Draco and he was getting rather infuriated with it as she refused to acknowledge his existence, every now and then she would reply with a one word answer but never anything more. Draco knew he was wrong to say those things but he really did think that she was blowing it way out of proportion and was over exaggerating.

Draco had decided to wake up early and cast a spell on their only way in and out of their living quarters. No one was coming in and Hermione definitely wasn't leaving. Draco sat on the sofa, getting warm in front of the fire and listened as Hermione fumbled around in her room; once she made it downstairs she made a b-line for the door, only to be knocked back. Hermione tried opening the door several time before giving up with a defeated huff, she turned to the sofa and glared at Malfoy knowing full well that this was his doing "What?" he questioned falsely innocent "Door" Hermione stated pointing at it "What are you? A Neanderthal?" He questioned sarcastically "You gotta use your words love" he stated smugly "Open the damn door" Hermione growled through gritted teeth. Draco pretended to think about his answer "No" he said simply, which only angered her, which in turn angered him as he was the only one in the room that had the right to be pissed off.

He got off the sofa furiously and took dangerously quick motions towards her, causing Hermione to place a protective hand over her abdomen; he stopped inches in front of her "Seriously?" he questioned in disbelief "You think I'd hurt my child?" Hermione just shrugged enraging him even more. He forcefully pushed her chest causing her to fall into the door, he slammed both his hands on either side of her head boxing her in "You're not going anywhere" he snarled at her, however it was not his words that scared Hermione but his eyes; his usual silver had turned into a dark grey, borderline black and this terrified her, she had never felt so frightened under someone's intent stare, "Let me go" she whispered out, her voice breaking on the last syllable "We need to talk" he removed his hands from the door and wrapped one hand around her wrist and dragged her to the kitchen table, he let her go when she was sat down and he knew she wasn't going to try anything.

For a long while Hermione stared at the fruit bowl in the middle of the table while Draco stared at her in silence. This was his stupid idea, yet he didn't know what to say, he crossed his arms and sunk further into the counter "Three weeks, you haven't spoken to me in three god damn weeks" He raised his voice causing Hermione to flinch "This is getting ridiculous and petty, I've been disconnected from you and our baby for three weeks Granger" he said painfully, slowly walking over to the table and sitting in the seat opposite her. As he sat down she got up with haste and walked over to the stairs, however Draco was quicker; he wrapped his fingers gently under her arm and stopped her in her tracks "Come on Granger" he pleaded "You have to say more than a few words to me, you can't continue to ignore my existence."

She wriggled her arm out of his grasp and stared venomously at him "Well?" he questioned "You want a sentence? How about 'I hate you Draco Malfoy" he stared at her for a moment "Try again" he baited her with his smug grin "That wasn't a sentence, it was fact" He stated. Hermione could feel her blood beginning to boil; he got under her skin in every way possible.

She decided to end his torturous silent treatment that she had been subjecting him too "You're nothing but a selfish, jealous, pig headed jackass who thrives off of other peoples misery" she moved her face in a little closer to make him feel as uncomfortable as she could "Did you get off on making me upset? Did you enjoy throwing those hateful words at me? Did you relish in listening to me cry? Listening to the emotional damage you caused? Did you run back to your little friends and brag about how you made the little mudblood cry? I bet you did eh? Did you a kick out of it?"

she threw all these rhetorical questions at him and he had to argue against his nature and let her vent it out without out interruption "You're a hurricane, you come in full of rage and hate, destroy everything in your path and just leave, letting everyone else deal with the chaos and mess and mistakes that you've made" she rubbed her hand over her stomach "This mess cannot be undone, and if you keep hurting me, sooner or later your words are going to lead to a chaos that can't be fixed" she explained in a quiet tone before walking up the stairs.

"So now would be a bad time to invite you to my quidditch match this afternoon?" his question was answered with a loud thud of a slamming door "I'll take that as a 'screw you' then".

Draco left for the quidditch match not long after their discussion; Draco hovered above the field and scanned the stands in hopes that Granger had changed her mind and shown up, "What's eating you mate?" Blaise questioned as he flew over to his friend "What? Nothing, now get back in goals, the match will be starting any minute." Blaise complied with his order and shortly after the match began.

Nearing the end of the match Draco spotted the snitch, he lowered his body so he was eye level with it and almost parallel with his broomstick; the snitch raced off with Draco hot on its tail, once he was within arm's length of the snitch he stretched out his arm and extended his fingers in an attempt to snatch it out of the air and claim victory for Slytherin. A small grin graced his face before a terrified voiced screamed out his name causing him to turn around.

As he did, he caught sight of the Bludger that hit him square in the chest, before he fell off his broom, hitting the ground with a sickening thud, all Draco could hear were screams and gasps as his team mates surrounded him. Blaise came into Draco's line of view "You'll be all right mate" he assure his friend who lay helpless on the field "Granger, get Granger" he rasped out before passing out, Blaise complied with his last order and set off to find Hermione.


	26. Chapter 26

_Chapter 26_

Hermione fell asleep after she heard Draco leave for his quidditch match, Hermione never understood that stupidly violent game; her sleep was disturbed when she heard someone banging frantically on her door calling her name, she swung the open to find Blaise out of breath "Blaise?" she questioned "What are you doing here?"

Blaise explained what happened as the both of them hurried through the school corridors "I swear, if this is some sort of sick joke to get me to talk to Malfoy, Blaise, it isn't funny" she warned, walking with haste behind Blaise "Does it look like I'm joking Hermione?" he asked in a harsh tone "He got hit by that bloody Bludger when he went after the snitch, I don't know which was worse, the hit or the fall that followed"

They fell into silence as they entered the hospital wing, Hermione's breath caught in her throat when her eyes fell on Draco; his uniform had been cut off to assess his injuries. His chest was turning purple from the bruising and he was taking alarmingly shallow breaths, Hermione could only imagine the extent of the rest of his injuries.

Hermione turned into Blaise's body and he wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulder. Blaise had always been fond of Hermione, he enjoyed her sarcasm and wit, he also revelled in the way she wasn't afraid to put Draco in his place and to see her in such a state was unnerving, he was also confused as to why Draco had asked him to get Hermione as opposed to someone else but those questions would have to wait "He's going to be okay" he reassured her, gently squeezing her shoulder "Madam Pompfrey will give him something for the pain and help him to repair the broken bones, he'll be his old arrogant self in no time" Blaise pointed out causing her to laugh.

"Granger?" a raspy voice called out, both Hermione and Blaise looked over to see Draco partially awake. Hermione rushed over to him and grabbed his hand and offered him a smile "You came" he stated in total awe that she came to him in his time of need "Of course I did" she replied, bringing his hand up to her mouth do she could place small, heated kisses on it. Blaise knew it was time to leave so he slowly retreated out of the room "Mr. Malfoy, for your bones to repair, you'll have to take this but I must warn you that this process will be completely agonising" Draco nodded and turned to Hermione "Stay with me?" he asked before taking the potion "Always" she replied.

Neither one of them slept that night, between Draco's screams and her worry, it was one long night. Draco's screams slowly died down and just before dawn the pair fell asleep for a few hours, Hermione woke up to Draco smoothing her hair with his free hand as he drew small circle with his thumb on her hand with the other "Hey you" she croaked out "How are you feeling?" he shrugged "sore I guess" they both chuckled, alerting madam pompfrey who promptly came over "Mr. Malfoy, so glad you're feeling somewhat better. To get straight to the point, I am willing to release you into the care of Miss. Granger as long as you rest for the remainder of the week. Dumbledore has informed all your professors that the both of you will be absent from classes all week" she informed the pair, after half an hour Hermione and Draco were back in their dorms and they both planned on sleeping for the rest of the day.

As they reached the top of the stairs Draco turned towards her "Granger, can I stay with you? In your room?" he asked "What's wrong with your bed?" she enquired but he ignored her question "please?" he begged, after the night he had just been through it was the least she could do. They both got under the quilt and lay next to each other "you touch me _once_ inappropriately and I will detach whatever part of you did it from your body" she warned as she rolled over onto her side, Draco chuckled at her comment "I'm serious" she exasperated "I know you are" he agreed sarcastically "Just don't kill me for this" with that he also rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around Hermione's mid section "What are doing?" she asked, confused by his action "Getting comfy" he explain. Hermione was too tired to argue so she left him to it, not long after her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted to sleep, Draco soon followed.


	27. Chapter 27

_Chapter 27_

After two weeks of recuperation with Hermione helping the healing period, Draco was finally given the bill of good health from madam Pompfrey and returned to his classes. When he returned to the dorm he found Hermione sat on the sofa and staring intently into the fire, he had found her that multiple times since his accident; she was so engrossed in thought that she hadn't noticed that he had arrived "What are you thinking about?" he questioned her softly, he knew something was eating away at her. She looked up at him and got up off the sofa "Nothing" she mumbled as she tried to walk passed him "Come on Granger, that's not the first time I've found you in front of the fire like that" Hermione stopped walking and turned to him. He went over to her and pulled her into a hug "What is it?" he asked again.

"You" she sighed out "When you got hurt, I thought for a moment that I would lose you" she paused and looked up at him before continuing "In that moment, I realised that I can't do this without you, that I don't want to bring our child into this world if you're not here" Draco had no time to reply as Hermione closed the space between them and slammed her lips onto his and he kissed her back with equal amount of passion. Fireworks exploded in her stomach as they assaulted each other with urgent kisses.

Hermione grabbed the collar of his robes and pushed him towards the stairs but, Draco had other plans. He swiftly manoeuvred them so he had the upper hand, he slammed her into the wall next the staircase causing Hermione to grunt, he smirked darkly at her; he knew she needed this just as much as he did.

Instead of returning his attention to her now swollen lips, he focused on her neck, trailing slow, heated kisses from her lower right ear down to her collar bone. He placed his hands firmly on her hips as he planted kisses over her shirt, down her chest, past her sternum and ending just above her skirt line. He paused, waiting for an objection but it never came. As he traced his hands up her sides she moaned and whimpered, that was all he needed to hear before ripping off her shirt and turning her so her front was pressed against the wall.

He placed a gentle hand on the back of her head, keeping her in place as he explored her. He nipped the top of her shoulder and she released a low moan, his pants twitched at the mere sound. He pressed himself against her to show her how happy his not so little friend was. Hermione gasped at the prodding sensation that was growing against her body, Draco leaned in close and murmured breathlessly "This is what you do to me" she pushed her back against him and turned to face him "Let's find out what you do to me" she purred out seductively.

Draco let out a low growl before picking her up effortlessly despite the extra baggage; Hermione wrapped her legs around his waist and fiercely kissed him as they travelled to his room. He gently placed her down on his silk covers as they both ripped each other's clothes off; Hermione paused halfway through taking his trousers off "What's the matter?" Draco asked, breathless "Are you sure?" she questioned, he laid her down and hovered above her "Why wouldn't I be?" he questioned attentively as he placed bare kisses on her naked skin as he waited for her answer. Hermione found it hard to make a coherent sentence with Draco kissing her in all the right places, _he really was observant the first time around_ she thought to herself "Because I'm fat" she stated, Draco abruptly stopped his array of kisses and crawled back up to her so he could look directly at her "You're not fat" he replied , his eyes burning with desire "You're creating life" he stated matter of factly, kissing the corner of her mouth "And nothing is more beautiful than that".

Before she could protest he claimed her mouth with his, before they continued their affections for one another, until the tension built between them became too much and they both gave into what they desired.


	28. Chapter 28

_Chapter 28_

A week after their sexcapdes, Dumbledore granted them leave so they could visit Narcissa. Hermione held onto Draco as he used the floo powered and spoke his destination. When they appeared in the fireplace Narcissa was there to greet them, she wrapped her arms around the pair and hugged them tightly "Mother, if you hug us any tighter you'll squish the baby" Hermione giggled as she let them go, she looked around the room taking in the rubble walls and marble flooring, it was something you'd expect to see in a film.

"Quite grand isn't it" Narcissa asked, all Hermione could do was nod "Please, sit" Narcissa gestured "Is there anything you'd particularly like?" Narcissa asked and Hermione just shook her head as she took her seat "Oh, I know how cravings are, surely there's something you want?" Draco looked over at Hermione, she hadn't mentioned any cravings to him "I wouldn't mind some apple pie" as soon as she said it the food appeared on the table.

"Oh how I use to nag Lucius throughout my pregnancy for the strangest of things; the poor sod always did get me what I wanted. Does Draco do the same for you?" Narcissa asked, before Hermione could reply Draco interjected "She has never told me about her cravings mother" Narcissa took a slice of cake and handed to Hermione "Well aren't you lucky then? To have a woman this wonderful not nagging at you for foods she desperately desires" Draco shot an accusing look at Hermione "Oh don't look at me like that! I didn't want to bother you, it's only food, I am perfectly capable with going without the cravings" Narcissa laughed at the pair, she knew how overprotective and overbearing Draco could be "So how far along are you?" she queried "22 weeks" Hermione announced, Narcissa's eyes widened at the revelation and Draco grinned proudly.

"How come you look so thin for someone halfway through their second trimester?" she asked, bewildered "It's an illusion mother" Draco looked towards Hermione and Narcissa followed his gaze "A friend and I created concealment tops, when worn it shows my body before pregnancy and when I take it off in our dorm my figure returns to its pregnant state, and between us girls taking the top off is like removing your bra at the end of the day" both Hermione and Narcissa burst out laughing, Draco was slightly unnerved to see his mother and Granger getting along so well.

The rest of the day went rather quickly, Draco hated to admit it but he had fun and enjoyed his mothers company "It's getting dark" Narcissa observed "You two should get going before Lucius returns" she said ushering them to the fireplace "Going where?" a low sinister voice boomed from the opposite side of the room "Ah, my son has come home with Miss. Granger I see" Lucius stumbled towards them, Draco pushing Hermione behind him "Lucius, dear why don't you lie down, you've had a bit too much to drink" he scowled at the woman and pushed her aside as he sauntered up to Draco "Well?" he questioned "Aren't you going to let me shake Miss. Grangers hand Draco?" when Draco didn't answer, his father backhanded him sending him flying across the room.

"I never did like people with bad manners" he drawled out with a sick smile slowly spreading across his face. He grabbed Hermione by her hair and she let out a small yelp "Let her go!" Draco yelled at his father, getting to his feet "So you have got a backbone?" he questioned his son "You know how I feel about you bringing mudblood's into my home Draco" he spoke in a condescending manner "It displeases me that you have gone against my wishes".

He yanked on Hermione's hair causing her to let out a strangled whimper "Now I have to teach you a lesson" he hummed out, he hit Draco with the Imperio curse so he wouldn't interfere "Your lesson will be emotional torture, you are going to watch me beat the living crap out of her before I rip her clothes off and take her where she lays" he laughed as Draco tried to move.

Lucius pulled Hermione into him and licked her face and chuckled as she tried to push him away, Lucius bit her throat when she wouldn't stay still causing her to scream "I see why you like this one Draco, she's feisty isn't she?" he asked rhetorically, Draco couldn't find the words to say anything, he felt powerless.

Lucius grew bored of Hermione's whimpers and threw her to the side, her head and body connecting with the rubble wall, her body crumpling to the floor "NO!" Draco shouted, still trying to fight his way out of the curse. He fell to his knees, silently begging for her to get up "Oh would you look at that" Lucius said walking over to the wall he threw Hermione into "She bleeds" Lucius traced his fingers over the bloodstain where her head had connected with the wall and then put his bloodied fingers to his mouth "Tastes like dirt" he spat.

"And now I have to punish her for making a mess" Draco couldn't watch. As he was turning away he had and thought _if the baby follows him, maybe it'll listen to him too._ Draco closed his eyes and directed a thought _Hi baby, mummy needs your help okay? You need to help mummy_ and just before Lucius could cast the curse a blinding blue light emerged from Hermione's body enveloping everyone in the room.

As the light grew dimmer Draco was released from his father's curse and Lucius was now suspended in the air, drifting away from Hermione. Draco ran towards Hermione and cradled her in his arms "What did you do?" Lucius bellowed from above them "I didn't do a thing" Draco smirked "Our baby did" he announced before disapparenting himself and Hermione back to their dorm.

They appeared in their common room and Blaise was sitting in the kitchen. When Blaise heard Draco talking to Hermione he walked into the room "Wake up Granger!" he was practically shouting at her "What the bloody hell happened?" Blaise asked rushing over too them "My father" he stated before picking Hermione up and taking her upstairs "Mate I think you should take her to madam pompfrey" Blaise suggested "I can take care of this" he assured his friend "Can you grab a wet cloth from the kitchen?" he asked Blaise as he placed Hermione on his bed, Blaise complied to his request.

Draco brushed the hair out of her face and assessed her injuries, he cast a healing spell and watched as the broken skin around her neck and head knitted itself back together, she was still out cold but that was to be expected. Draco placed a gentle hand on her stomach "That's my boy, well done" he praised his child.

"Draco?" Blaise interrupted, confused by what he just heard, Draco turned to him and sighed before snatching the wet cloth out of his hands "Granger's _pregnant_?" he asked, Draco ignored his question and started to wipe the drying blood off her head and face "Yeah Blaise, she is" there was no point in lying to his friend, he was going to find out anyway.

Draco and Blaise sat on the sofa to let Hermione rest "Why didn't you tell me mate?" Blaise questioned "Not exactly an easy topic to bring up is it?" the two sat there and talked about it all and Draco filled him in on everything that has happened "So how far along is she?" Draco thought back to there earlier conversation with his mother "six and a half months" Blaise nodded slowly "It's a damn good thing that she came up with that concealment top" Blaise and Draco laughed before being disturbed by a disembodied voice.

"What are you two laughing at?" both Draco and Blaise swore out of fright before turning around to see Hermione at the bottom of the stairs, she had taken her concealment top off and Blaise looked at her in awe, a big goofy smile spreading across his face "Granger" Draco breathed out as he jumped over the sofa to embrace her. He placed one hand on her stomach and another wrapped in her hair "The baby is fine" she assured him. Blaise moved to the chair so Hermione could sit by Draco on the sofa, they all talked for a while before Draco kicked Blaise out ordered Hermione to bed.

"Draco?" she called over to him "Will you stay with me tonight?" he could think of nothing better. When they were both settled down and ready to sleep Hermione murmured "I don't like your father very much" which caused Draco to chuckle, "I don't like him either" Draco admitted before they fell asleep in each other's embrace.


	29. Chapter 29

_Chapter 29_

At the end of the week Hermione had come to the conclusion that she had to tell Harry what was going on, it wasn't fair that Ginny and Blaise knew but Harry didn't. When Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room she bumped into Ginny "Hermione" she breathed out, the two hadn't really spoken since Hermione had left her crying in her dorm "Ginny" Hermione replied "How are you?" Ginny asked "Fine" she retorted "Have you seen Harry?" she questioned "Uh yeah, he's finishing his potions homework by the fire" she paused before continuing "You're going to tell him aren't you?" she asked "Yeah, I am" Ginny nodded and started to turn away before Hermione stopped her "Would you tell him me?" she asked, Hermione was past the point of nervous; Ginny smiled "of course."

The two girls walked over to where Harry was studying "Hey you" Ginny hummed, kissing Harry gently on the cheek "So, you two are a thing now?" Hermione asked curiously "Yep" the two said in unison "What are you doing here Mione? Not that I'm unhappy to see you or anything" Harry rambled "I'm actually here to talk to you about something" Hermione informed him, she sat on the sofa and pondered for a moment not entirely sure what to say, so Ginny started "Do you remember the night that the love potion from Slughorne's class took affect?" she asked him, he nodded his reply with sinful grin "Well, when I returned the following morning I found Hermione and Dr—" Ginny's reveal was cut short by Hermione "I'm pregnant" she blurted out before covering her mouth with her hands "YOU'RE WHAT?" Harry all but yelled, looking between the two girls.

"You've been pregnant this whole time and you didn't think to tell me?" Harry was upset by his friends secret "And you" he pointed accusingly at Ginny "You knew this whole time and didn't think it was important to tell me?" he questioned her as he began to pace, clearly agitated "It wasn't my place to say anything" Ginny explained in earnest "And she's here now...telling you, so remove your broomstick from up your arse and calm down" she shouted at her partner.

Harry continued to pace and the two girls waited for him to say something. He turned to Hermione "I want you to leave" he announced, both of the girl's heads shot up "What?" Hermione whispered, "You heard me Hermione, GET OUT!" he yelled at her causing her to flinch. She understood that he was upset but his reaction was ridiculous "Thanks for the support Potter" she bit out before heading with haste to the door "Hermione, wait" he called after her but she ignored his efforts. Before leaving she heard Ginny scold him "Way to handle the situation, you complete imbecile."

Draco had been woken up by an owl flying into the window "Bloody bird" he muttered as he got out of bed and opened the window; the bird dropped a letter at his feet before taking off. He opened the letter and knew from the handwriting that it was from his mother;

 _My dearest Draco,_

 _I must apologise for your father's unfavourable behaviour earlier this week, I assure you that he feels terribly ashamed of his actions and hopes that yourself and Miss Granger are well._

 _I didn't have chance to ask you during your visit if you have yet chosen a name for your child, your father and I stuck with tradition and named you after the constellation ,as you well know, I for one don't mind if you stray from tradition with your child's name._

 _I do hope that Hermione is feeling better and I hope you took care of her Draco, I know how unsympathetic you can be, however, you seem different around her, you almost seem happy and I do hope that my assumption isn't wrong my dear, all I ever wanted from the moment you were born was your eternal happiness and hope she grants my wish._

 _Until the next time we speak,_

 _All my love,_

 _Mum._

Draco put the letter down and thought long and hard, Hermione had never mentioned anything about naming the baby, she only referred to it as 'jellybean' as fitting as it seems at the moment, it would be a rather shocking name for a child. When Hermione returned he would make sure to bring it up in conversation.

After an hour Draco became restless, his mothers letter on his mind; he took out his quill and a piece of parchment and started to write a list of names for both genders, he got halfway down the piece of parchment when the door swung open and very distracted Hermione walked in.

"Granger, there you are" he said walking up to her "Mother sent me a letter and it got me thinking about baby names, more specifically our child's name, it hasn't got one, it's nameless" he rambled on and continued to do so until a confused Hermione help up her hand signalling for him to stop talking. "What are you rambling on about? Start again, slowly this time" she ordered him, he repeated what he said and Hermione nodded "So what did you have in mind?" she questioned and he handed her the piece of parchment, she quickly skimmed over it and handed it back to him "No" she said before walking towards the stairs "What do you mean 'no'?" he asked following her up the stairs and into her bedroom "Every name on that list, for both genders starts with the letter D Draco" he stood next to her bed slightly confused "So" she huffed "So, the child would be ...just like you" she informed him, he thought for a moment and his lips began to form a silent 'ohh' "I'll think of other names" he stated before leaving her to get changed.


	30. Chapter 30

_Chapter 30_

Over the course of the next month and a half, Hermione and Draco did nothing but argue about baby names and who's room they would move into. Draco became particularly argumentative about their status, he was more than happy for the whole school to know about their situation and he wanted Hermione to be his.

However, the stubborn witch didn't want anyone to know about the baby even though they were so close to the end and she refused to become his which only angered him and caused him to lash out.

He would through things that would only just miss Hermione or throw a punch at Blaise with instant regret.

Hermione was keeping him at arm's length, his temper was growing out of control and he was becoming more unpredictable with each passing day.

"Need any help with that?" Draco asked walking sleepily down the stairs as Hermione was putting away the dishes.

"No" she answered absentmindedly.

"Fine" he grunted before walking clumsily into the living quarters and started the fire.

As Hermione put the cups away she felt a small sharp pain run across her lower abdomen, she hissed out and placed a hand on stomach; the pain subsided rather quickly and she thought nothing of it until another pain hit her in the same place, this time the pain was worse and it caused her to lean forward.

"Ouch" she yelled out, grabbing Draco's attention.

He hurried over to her and stood at her side while his hands made circular motions on her upper back "What it is?" he asked, she was breathing deeply waiting for the pain to melt away "I don't know, but it hurts"

Draco helped Hermione over to the sofa and gently sat her down. "What do you want me to do?" he asked calmly.

"Go get Ginny" she ordered softly; she was just as scared as Draco was even if he didn't show it through his cool and collected exterior. Draco practically ran into the common room door as he left to find the redheaded Gryffindor.

Draco ran straight for the quidditch field knowing that scarhead had practice so she would probably be there too. He found Ginny in the watchers stands and Draco whispered in her ear what was happening, the two of them hurried back to the dorm concerned about Hermione.

When the two barged into the dorm Hermione was pacing and rubbing her lower back "Hey momma bear" Ginny offered her a smile a grabbed her hands "Wanna tell me what's going on so I can see if I can help?"

Hermione nodded and explained to her about the pains and their increasing strengths "I want you to sit down and put your feet up" she ordered Hermione "Draco, go get her a hot water bottle" Draco just stared at the redhead until she yelled at him "NOW!" he walked into the kitchen and did as he was told; when he returned Ginny explained that the pain Hermione was experiencing was Braxton Hicks.

"They're false labour pains, mum use to whine at Ron about the pain she caused him" Hermione chuckled "Give it a little while and the pain should go and you'll be right as rain, okay?"

Hermione nodded "So what are they exactly?" Draco asked.

"It's her bodies way of preparing her for real labour" Draco gave a slight nod "Thank you for this Gin" Hermione gripped her friends hand and gave her a heartfelt smile "No problem, but I do have to go, I've got lesson" the girls said their goodbyes and Draco moved to sit by Hermione on the sofa.

"You've got to stop" Hermione sighed out.

"Excuse me?" he asked totally confused. "Your outburst and sudden shifts in moods, I don't know why you started acting out but so help me God, if you don't change by the time the baby is here, I will not let you near it. Am I clear?"

Hermione got off the sofa and started towards the stairs "No" he yelled out to her, standing up "You're not clear, I have no damn shifts in moods and my outbursts are justified" he defended himself.

"Justified?" she exclaimed "You threw a punch at Blaise because he offered me his hand to help me off the sofa"

"He shouldn't be touching what is mine" he seethed back

"What is yours? I didn't realise that I was property and I also didn't realise that you treated your property like shit" she spat at him while poking a finger in his direction

"I do not treat you like shit" he hurtled back at her.

"You literally threw a glass at me when you didn't like my answer, it missed me by this much" she stated facts, gesturing with her fingers.

"I told you I didn't mean it, I was just—"

Hermione cut him off "Angry, I know! Your mood changed and you threw something at me"

He huffed "Okay, so my moods are changing, what's the big freaking deal?" he exasperated

"YOU'RE SCARING ME!" Hermione shouted causing him to jump a little, he didn't reply to her comment instead he just let her walk to her room and cool off.

After a few hours Draco gingerly knocked on Hermione's bedroom door and slightly opened it "Granger?"

"What Malfoy?" she answered back as he stepped into her room and started towards her bed

"Am I really scaring you?"

She sighed and patted her bed for him to sit on it "yeah, you are...I just don't understand what's happening with you" she explained and in all honesty he didn't know what was going on either.

"I'm sorry Granger" he said sincerely reaching for her hand "I'm trying to be better, not so much like the old Draco; the old Draco would never be fit to raise a child and protect his woman" he hung his head as the truth spilled from his mouth.

Hermione tilted his chin up with her fingers and planted an unexpected passionate kiss on his lips; he had missed the way her silky smooth lips felt against his, he leaned into the kiss and Hermione's lips parted slightly giving him permission to enter her mouth, his tongue danced against her before she pulled away, breathless.

"Old Draco would never have thrown something at me in temper or hit his best friend" Hermione pointed out "A month a ago we were talking about baby names, and out of nowhere you started to angry and starting arguments out of nothing; it's like you're a totally different person. New Draco will not be allowed around my baby" she said pointedly, protectively and he understood clearly.

"Mothers letter and picking out names made it seem all too real, I started to over think and drive myself crazy; I didn't mean to scare you, I'm just...Just" Draco paused, his pride stopping him.

"Scared?" Hermione finished for him and he nodded "You don't think that I'm scared? I'm going out of my freaking mind!" she admitted "Feeling it move, picking out names, getting everything ready, wondering if I'll be a good enough mum or if one day this child will grow to hate me" tears started to form in her eyes and Draco realised that he had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he had been neglecting her when she clearly panicking.

Draco pulled her into him, her protruding belly pushing up to him, he sighed with relief when she was in his arms "Our child will not hate you Granger, you're a good person with a big heart; there is not one thing that you can't do, and you will succeed in this as you have done everything else, do you understand me?" he questioned as her tears had spilled over

"You're really good at pep talks" she hiccupped out and the pair laughed, he released her from their embrace and whipped stray tears away from her face "we can do this" he promised her.

They spent the rest of the day talking and discussing baby names and godparents without freaking out or getting into any arguments.


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter 31_

" _C'mon Ginny, we've barley spoken since Hermione last came around and I saw you run off with Draco during practice, just tell me what's going on" Harry pleaded with his girlfriend, since Harry's outburst at Hermione he and Ginny were not exactly on good terms._

 _It was not the first time he had been nasty to Hermione and Ginny wasn't as forgiving as she once was. Harry had hurt her best friend and Ginny wasn't impressed._

" _As if you care Harry" she spat out, moving from her seat in the library and making her way into the corridor._

" _I do care!" Harry argued back following her into the corridor "You were running off to see Hermione weren't you? Is she all right?" he questioned hastily._

" _Yes, we were seeing to Hermione!" she huffed out, stopping in her tracks._

" _She was having Braxton hicks contractions and she was scared, so I went to her because she needed her_ friend _, which is something you have failed to be" Ginny went to walk away from him but he stepped in front of her._

" _I get it! I was wrong to yell at her and treat her like crap, but she's pregnant Gin with Malfoy's kid, doesn't that sound even a little wrong to you?" Ginny wanted to slap him but fought the urge_

" _You're such a jerk! She's happy, can't you see that? Yes she's pregnant, but that could have been us Harry, you weren't exactly careful, and if it was us in Hermione's situation she would be supporting us not isolating us"_

 _Harry let that thought sink in "I didn't see it like that" he admitted._

" _No, because you were being selfish" she said before moving around him and walking away._

 _Harry decided that he needed to make things right with Hermione, he missed his best friend and Ginny was right, he had been acting like a jerk towards her recently. He knocked on Hermione's common room door and waited for her to answer._

" _Is it okay if I come in?" he asked when she appeared, Hermione nodded and Harry headed inside and made his way to the sofa._

" _I'm sorry Hermione" he hurriedly spoke "I've been acting like a right muppet and I was well out of line to yell at you" he admitted._

" _You're my best friend, and I'm happy for you...that's what I should have said when you approached me with this, but like an ass I flipped out and I made you feel alone and I was wrong" He huffed and Hermione stepped forward hugging her friend "It's okay" she whispered in his ear._

" _At least you had the courage to come here and say it to my face, mother didn't even write back" Harry gave her a confused look when she pulled away from the hug so Hermione explained everything._

 _When Ginny walked into Hermione's common room she found Harry and Hermione laughing about Draco's apparent inability to say 'vanilla'_

" _Hey Gin" Hermione called her over to the sofa and they continued their conversation until Draco returned and they had to leave before curfew._

" _Thank you Harry for today, I miss having you around" Hermione admitted hugging him once more "I missed you too" he replied, hugging her back before they left._

" _What was that all about?" Draco asked curiously_

" _Just making up for lost time" Draco just shrugged and made his way upstairs with Hermione in tow._

" _By the way" she stopped him before he entered his room "Out of the names we thought of, I liked these two" she handed Draco a piece of folded parchment and a smile grace his handsome face "I picked these" he replied proudly._

" _Yes you did" she answered him, pushing her door open while slowly undressing him with her eyes._

" _Granger if you keep looking at me like that and I'm gonna have to bend you over your bed and show you what I've missed" Hermione's eyes darted to his and a smirk slowly made its way across her face._

 _He dropped the parchment and picked her up, being mindful of her pregnant belly. His hands cradled her arse as she wrapped her legs around his waist and planted desperate kisses on his mouth._

 _Draco lay her down her softly on her back and undid her top with his thumb and forefinger. He traced his hand down her breastbone once her top was removed._

 _He placed kisses over her bump and started to remove her skirt, Hermione squirmed under his touch growing impatient._

 _He placed kisses along her pubic bone causing her to moan. Draco smirked against her heated skin and proceeded._

 _Hermione grew even more impatient and propped herself up on her elbows, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into her, switching their position._

 _Draco was on his back while Hermione was unzipping his trousers and it was clear to see that even in her pregnant state Draco was still turned on by her. As Hermione removed his boxer and moved to please him Draco stopped her._

" _Tonight is about you" he drawled out laying her into back into her starting position._

 _Hermione begged Draco to skip the build up and get straight to it and he wasn't going to reject._

 _As he entered her she wrapped herself around him, she had both missed and needed this release for such a long time._

" _You are mine" he grunted out, quickening his pace, the pressure between her hips building. Every part of her body was dripping in sweat and she moaned with every thrust Draco gave, hitting the spot._

 _A few more thrusts and the pair fell apart in unison crying out each other's names as they reached their climax, Draco rolled away and lay next to her, her body still shuddering from their mind-blowing release._

 _Draco's breathing was heavy and his body ached as he relived all the built up tension, he embraced Hermione who was still trembling from her orgasm and gently smoothed her hair, the pair said nothing to each other, it wasn't necessary; after a few moments their breathing had evened out and they both drifted into a blissful sleep._


End file.
